


There's magic in the air

by Hellomoto



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/F, Quidditch, pink lemonade - Freeform, trimberly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-12-02 00:05:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11497611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellomoto/pseuds/Hellomoto
Summary: Trini's amazing at Potions and Kim could maybe use a tutor. Also, instead of being Power Rangers, they're all quidditch jocks.Ehhh, I'm just a useless lesbian who might be a little teensy tiny bit in love with Becky G.





	1. Chapter 1

Trini was in her fifth year at Hogwarts when she first met Kimberly Hart. Of course, she had known about the Hart girl long before then – Kimberly was the most popular girl in their class. In fact, now that they were in their fifth year and Kimberly had been named a prefect, an argument could be made that she was the most popular girl in the _school._ And why shouldn’t she be? She was smart and pretty. She was one of the most badass Chasers to ever grace the Slytherin Quidditch team. She was nice to everyone and easily got along with teachers, students, and even ghosts. Rumor had it that once Peeves the Poltergeist let Kimberly walk by him unscathed through a hallway that he had declared a ‘water balloon war zone’ – even though every single other person to walk through that corridor came out the other end completely soaked from head to toe. Peeves’ tirade had only ended when he got chased out of the hallway by a very angry (and very wet) Professor McGonagall.

Yup, Kimberly Hart was perfect. She was the perfect student, the perfect _girl_. And Trini was convinced that she didn’t have anything even remotely resembling a chance with her. Not that she even wanted one in the first place. It wasn’t like she had a crush on Kimberly…Okay, maybe she had a small interest in Kimberly Hart. Tiny. Inconsequential. Who cared if her heart skipped a beat and her palms sweated whenever she was within fifteen feet of the other girl? Ugh.

Trini sighed and slouched down even further in her seat at the back of the classroom, steadfastly refusing to look at the way the sunlight glinted off Kimberly’s chocolate brown hair, which brushed just so slightly against her neck as she hunched over her notebook, furiously scribbling as Professor Slughorn jovially recounted an old story from “The Potter Days”, as he affectionately called them. Trini had stopped paying attention long ago, as she usually did whenever Slughorn went off topic. She had heard all his stories before at Slughorn’s many private dinners he held for the Slug Club, which Trini had (much to her chagrin) been invited to ever since she had created a perfect Perplexing Potion in her second year – something even sixth years had difficulty with, Slughorn told her proudly.

Trini stared off into space, waggling her quill between her fingers as she contemplated heading to the pitch during her free period to practice the Wronski Feint with Zack later, although it was technically ‘frowned-upon’ to practice with a member of another team. Trini never let that get to her, though. She practiced with Zack all the time and nobody was going to stop her. She and Zack had been best friends since first year, when Zack’s exuberant nature caused him to accidentally knock Trini into the lake during their Sorting Night. Thankfully Hagrid had fished her out of the lake before the giant squid could snatch her, but Trini had to go through her sorting completely soaked, wrapped up in Hagrid’s moleskin overcoat that was about eighteen sizes too big for her. Zack had felt so bad about it that he dedicated himself as her best friend and personal servant for the rest of their lives. The personal servant part of the deal lasted for a week, but the best friend part had (to her everlasting surprise) held true ever since that night.

A sudden commotion brought Trini out of her introspective thoughts and she looked around in confusion. Her classmates were getting out of their seats and moving around. The sound of casual chatter reached Trini’s ears and she frowned. They still had an hour and a half left of class, so why were people suddenly switching from their usual seats?

“Inter-house collaboration is a wonderful thing!” Professor Slughorn’s voice boomed from the front of the class. “Find new partners, expand out of your comfort zones, seek out new friendships! Ravenclaws and Slytherins can work together and be friends!” Trini groaned internally. She may not have been paying attention, but she could figure out what was happening now. Seeking out new friendships and expanding her comfort zone weren’t exactly her strengths. Quite the opposite, in fact. Trini thrived on isolation, on staying fully within the comfort zone she had drawn for herself, which only included Zack and the other members of the Ravenclaw quidditch team…barely.

Trini sighed and looked around, resigned to her fate, when she saw a pair of hazel eyes looking straight at her from across the room. Trini’s breath caught in her throat. Was Kimberly…looking at her? The other girl gave her a small smile and Trini felt her face redden. She gulped. Why did Kimberly have to be so cute? Why did Kimberly have to be looking at her? Trini felt her pulse quicken as Kimberly stood up and gathered her books. Why did Kimberly have to be walking towards her right now?

Trini stared in amazement as the other girl gracefully maneuvered her way around desks, chairs, and other students who were switching seats. She finally stopped in front of Trini’s desk and said, “Hi. Trini, right?”

Was this a dream? Kimberly Hart knew her name? Trini stared for a good five seconds before realizing that there was a very real possibility that Kimberly was expecting an answer from her. Somehow she still couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“Ummm,” Kimberly eyed her apprehensively. “Professor Slughorn wants us to partner up with someone not in our house to figure out the Draught of Living Death. I noticed you – I mean – I saw you didn’t have a partner yet and I was wondering if you would want to partner with me?”

 _Okay, T. Be cool. Be cool. Be cool,_ Trini thought fervently. “Uh, yeah sure. Kimberly. We can be partners.” Trini internally applauded herself for managing to get through an entire sentence without stuttering or otherwise making a fool of herself. Maybe she could get through this.

The other girl shot her a dazzling smile. “Great! And – Kim.” Trini cocked her head to the side and frowned in confusion. She wasn’t sure that what Kimberly had just said made much sense, but she couldn’t tell. Her mind was too frazzled from being in proximity with the girl she’d had a crush on since third year. Before she could say anything, Kimberly was speaking again. “I mean – you can call me Kim. Kimberly is really formal, I think. And if we’re going to be partners, you can just call me Kim because that’s what my friends call me.” Kim’s eyes widened. “Not that we’re friends already! I mean, we can totally be friends. That would be awesome, but if you don’t want to be friends we don’t have to be – it would be cool if we could be, but I’m not going to force you. That would be crazy! And not that I could force you anyway, I mean – you’re Trini, and I’m just –“

“Hey Kim?” Trini interrupted. As much as she liked Kim talking to her, she was feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole situation. Kim immediately stopped talking and directed another dazzling smile Trini’s way. Trini stealthily wiped her palms on her skirt nervously. “Do you want to sit down?” Trini asked.

Kim jumped slightly, as if just realizing that she was the only student still standing in the classroom. The others were already crowding around their cauldrons and cutting up their mandrake roots. She hurried around the desk and Trini busied herself with slicing some boomslang skin. _Deep breaths, T. You can do this,_ Trini told herself. She wasn’t about to embarrass herself in front of the school’s it-girl and her crush of two years. Totally. She could do this.

Kim leaned over her to inspect the cauldron and Trini almost let the boomslang skin she was holding slip through her sweaty grasp. She gulped. This was going to be a long lesson.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just btw, in my head all the characters have American accents, even though this is a Hogwarts AU. Mostly because I don't know what British people speak like in real life.

“Beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous! Ohoho, you two sure make a good team, don’t you?” Trini allowed herself a small smile at Professor Slughorn’s praises as she admired the way her and Kim’s Draught of Living Death shimmered a perfectly silver sheen. It wasn’t anything new for her – she had always been a natural at Potions – but it was nice to hear that she’d done a good job. She stole a glance to her left to see Kimberly Hart smiling widely at her, looking at her like she was some sort of miracle worker. She felt her ears heat up and silently willed herself not to act a fool.

Trini had somehow made it through the lesson, finding it easier to be in Kim’s general proximity once she started concentrating on not blowing up the Living Death potion in their faces, despite the fact that the other girl seemed to have no concept of personal space. She had constantly leaned over Trini to look into the cauldron, and she had touched Trini’s arm several times, usually to catch the shorter girl’s attention to ask some question or other. Each touch sent a new wave of butterflies fluttering through Trini’s insides. She was surprised that she had held it together and hadn’t tripped over her words (or her feet) at any point in the past hour. This whole ordeal had been quite taxing and, in all honesty, Trini wanted to get out of the classroom and to the Great Hall for lunch before she inevitably found some way to embarrass herself.

After Slughorn finally stopped singing their praises, Trini gathered her bookbag and Vanished the potion. Her full concentration was on getting out of that classroom as soon as humanly possible. Not wanting to be rude, she aimed a perfunctory smile at her Potions partner before leaving. “Um. Bye Kim,” Trini said.

Kim snapped her head up from her bookbag that she was busily packing up and smiled once more at Trini. “Oh. Bye Trini! I’ll see you soon?”

Trini stared at her in disbelief. Kim sounded…hopeful? Like she actually cared if she saw Trini again soon? Trini shook that thought out of her head. _Don’t be an idiot, Gomez. She’s being polite._ After all, they _would_ be seeing each other soon - the school isn’t all that big and Kim was probably heading to the Great Hall for lunch right now just like Trini. “Uh, yeah sure Kim. See you soon.” Trini shot a nervous smile towards Kim once more and headed out of the classroom, breathing out a sigh in relief that she had managed to make it through an entire encounter with the girl she had been crushing on for years without being completely awkward.

Luckily, the Potions classroom was not far from the Great Hall, so when Trini entered the large room, there were barely any other students there, meaning she would get first dibs on seating and food. Trini made her way to the Ravenclaw table, hungrily eyeing a large pile of sandwiches. She sat and was reaching out to grab one when a hand snatched it out from in front of her almost faster than she could see. “Too slow, Crazy Girl!” Zack laughed as he took a big bite and smiled widely at her, showing the half-chewed contents of his mouth.

“Ugh, Pretty Boy I did NOT need to see that. You’re disgusting,” Trini stated, gagging a little.

Zack gasped dramatically and clutched at his chest. “You wound me, T. That’s no way to treat your best friend,” Zack leaned forward and attempted to lay a kiss on Trini’s cheek but she slapped him lightly on the side of the head before he could get anywhere near her.

“No,” she stated firmly, index finger pointed at him like she was talking to a misbehaving puppy.

Zack pouted, but she just rolled her eyes and reached past him for a sandwich, digging into it quickly. Zack eyed her, looking slightly impressed. “What’s the rush? Neither of us have class after this, we don’t exactly have to be in a hurry.”

Trini took another large bite. “’e sho’ go p’actice,” she said thickly.

Zack frowned. “Sorry Crazy Girl, I don’t speak wild animal. What, were you raised in a barn?”

Trini glared at him. As if he wasn’t talking with his own mouth full just a second ago. She swallowed with a little difficulty and cleared her throat. “I said, we should go practice.”

“Aw hell yeah!” Zack replied, his face lighting up with a big smile. He nodded excitedly before reaching for another sandwich and stuffing it in his face with the same vigor as Trini. It was only their second week back at Hogwarts and neither of them were quite used to having free periods in which they could do whatever they wanted. Technically, they were supposed to use their free time to study for O.W.L.s, but neither of them were going to pass up the opportunity to go flying any chance they got.  

See, Trini and Zack were both muggle-born and neither of them had much opportunity to do any flying while they were on school break. Zack could sometimes go flying in the empty field near his house in the countryside, but it wasn’t like Trini could just whip out her broom and practice speeding around fifty feet in the air above her family’s suburban neighborhood. Since they were both Seekers for their respective houses’ Quidditch teams (Trini was in Ravenclaw and Zack was in Gryffindor), they always made sure to get as much practice in as they could during the school year. They had certainly been scolded a few times by their team captains for practicing with their rival team’s seeker, but that had never stopped them. In truth, their captains really couldn’t complain. Practicing together made them better and their friendly competitiveness only made the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor matches that much more exciting. No other Seekers were as evenly matched as Trini and Zack, and their incredible maneuvers were often the talk of the common rooms after each of their matches.

Trini scarfed down another sandwich in the time it took Zack to finish three more and they both jumped up eagerly as soon as they were done. They ran out of the Great Hall before most other students had even sat down to eat. Unless it was an official team practice time, the Quidditch field was usually used on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis, so Trini and Zack weren’t about to let anybody get there before them. They raced each other to the broom closet near the entrance to the Quidditch stadium, barely paying attention to their surroundings as they jumped on their brooms, laughing gleefully. Trini was in the air and zooming toward the center of the field before something green flashed in front of her and she pulled her broom up, stopping quickly as she stared at the figure before her, her heart hammering in a way that had nothing to do with being a hundred feet up in the air.

“I know we said we’d see each other soon, but I didn’t know it would be _this_ soon,” the girl in front of her said. “Lucky me,” Kim smiled at her kindly.

Trini was saved from having to remove her heart from her throat long enough to make an intelligent reply by a voice booming from behind her. “K-Hart, wassup!” Zack zoomed over to the two girls, stopping barely an inch from where they sat in mid-air. Neither girl flinched, knowing that Zack was good enough at flying that he wouldn’t crash into them.

“Hey Zack,” Kim’s gave him a polite smile and Trini thought she saw her eyes flicker between the two of them quickly.

Trini finally found her voice. “Uh, you guys know each other?” she asked.

“Of course!” Zack said boisterously. “Me and Kim go wayyyy back,” he grinned and held his arm up to give Kim a fist bump, which she returned bemusedly.

“Um, yeah,” she chuckled. “If by ‘way back’, you mean when you accidentally Banished a textbook into my face last year in Charms. Sure.”

Trini bit back a laugh and glanced at Zack, who didn’t look put off at all. “That is absolutely what I meant,” he said, smiling breezily. “Still sorry about that, by the way. Hey, are you here by yourself? Me and T were about to practice some, maybe we could share the pitch?”

Kim nodded, glancing quickly at Trini before looking up at the castle. “Yeah, I’m here by myself. You guys can have the pitch, though. I should probably head up to the castle for lunch, I just came down here for a quick flight. I’ve got Divination next period.” She pulled a face and Zack groaned in sympathy.

“Rough, dude,” he said. “I hate Divination. Hey T, remember last year when you spent ten minutes describing a wild-eyed jungle kid looking at you from the crystal ball, but it turned out you were just having a bad hair day and had forgotten your contacts and had been describing your own reflection the whole time?”

Trini’s face flushed a deep red and she glared at Zack, hissing “Shut UP!” She heard a giggle and made quick eye contact with Kim, who was smiling widely back at her, looking entirely too amused by the embarrassing story. Trini suddenly took a vested interest in picking off a stray speck of dust from her glove, pretending that she wasn’t dying of mortification and wondering if she could get away with subtly pushing Zack off his broom.  

“Well, I’ll get going now. Bye Zack. I’ll see you later, Trini,” she said. Trini made quick eye contact with the other girl, managing a tight smile and a perfunctory nod before Kim zoomed off the pitch. She watched as Kim smoothly jumped off her broom as she reached the ground, barely losing any momentum as she began walking out of the stadium toward the castle. She sighed. So much for not embarrassing herself in front of Kim.

“Crazy Girl! Catch!” Trini was distracted from her pity party when something thumped against her head.

“Ow! Zack!” she glared at the boy, who was a good twenty feet away from her now, having put some distance between them so they could toss a snitch-sized rubber ball between them, like they usually did for practice.

Zack smirked, not at all remorseful. “Still got time to catch it, Crazy Girl!” he shouted.

Trini looked down and immediately caught sight of the ball still falling towards the ground. She grinned wickedly. She did want to practice her dives, after all. She quickly angled her broom downward, flattening her body on top of it to increase her speed as she zoomed towards the ground at a dangerous pace. The wind rushed past her and she squinted so her eyes wouldn’t water and blur her vision. She was gaining on the ball, her whole body nearly vertical as she zoomed downward. She gritted her teeth and reached out her right hand, eyes focused on the little gold speck, pretending that it was an actual snitch. Just when it looked like she wouldn’t be able to pull out of her dive in time, her hand closed around the little rubber ball and she pulled the nose of her broom up sharply, leveling off. The tips of her toes just brushed along the grass as she flew forward, recovering from the dive.

She laughed gleefully, excitement finally catching up to her as she realized that she had just pulled off a perfectly executed dive. Thoughts of her embarrassment in front of Kim were successfully pushed out of her mind. Above her, Zack whooped and cheered unintelligibly as he flew down to catch up to her and hold his hand up for a high five. “That was awesome!!!!” he crowed, slapping Trini’s outstretched hand in delight. “That’s my best friend, people!” he yelled to the empty stadium.

Trini just laughed. “Okay, Pretty Boy. Your turn,” she called as she flew back up into the air. She was too hopped up on adrenaline to notice her surroundings, but if she wasn’t, she might have seen a certain brown-eyed Slytherin staring up at her from the edge of the pitch in awe.


	3. Chapter 3

“Your O.W.L.s are an extremely important part of your educations. With every O.W.L. you achieve, you increase your work opportunities exponentially. I fully expect each and every one of you to work hard this year and fulfill the potential I know you all possess - MR. WALLACE!”

A red-headed boy seated near the back of the Transfiguration classroom suddenly turned to the front of the classroom quickly and sat up with perfect posture, a faux-innocent look on his face as if he had been paying attention the whole time. Trini was seated a few rows ahead of him, but she looked around curiously at the recipient of Professor McGonagall’s rage. Colt Wallace was a shifty-eyed Hufflepuff she had never liked (she had no idea how someone as despicable as _Wallace_ had ended up in Hufflepuff, but she wasn’t one to judge the Sorting Hat) and who could usually be found antagonizing younger students in the hallways. Seated behind Wallace was Billy Cranston, fervently attempting to align his quills on his desk. Trini frowned. She was sure Wallace had done something to mess with Billy’s quills and she shot a glare at the red-headed kid. She didn’t like to see anybody being bullied, especially not her fellow Ravenclaw and all-around sweet guy Billy Cranston.

“Mr. Wallace, is there something about this discussion that you find _boring?_ Is there something in the back of the classroom that you think would perhaps help you achieve your Transfiguration O.W.L.?” Professor McGonagall’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“No Professor McGonagall,” Wallace said dejectedly.

McGonagall sniffed. “Good. Because I can assure you, Mr. Wallace, that you need to be paying as much attention in this classroom as you possibly can to achieve an O.W.L. here, judging by the fact that you have _still_ not managed to Vanish a snail while half of the class has already moved on to Vanishing mice.” Wallace flushed red and slouched slightly in his seat. Trini tried without much success to suppress her smile.

“You must work hard this year,” McGonagall continued as if there had never been an interruption, “if you have any chance of achieving an O.W.L. in this class. I can assure you, it is not for the faint of heart. Now please work in partners to continue with your Vanishing spells. You may collect your mice from the front of the classroom and your _snails,”_ McGonagall stared pointedly at Wallace, “from the container in the back.”

Most students got up from their seats and moved to collect their animals, but Trini angled herself towards the back of the classroom. She stopped in front of Billy’s desk and waited for him to look up and notice her. When he did, he smiled widely upon seeing Trini and she grinned back at him. “Hey Billy. Want to be my partner?” Trini asked. She and Billy usually partnered up on assignments, but she always asked beforehand anyway. He was one of the few other students that she felt fully comfortable with, which may have had something to do with the fact that they were both on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team (Billy was an amazing Keeper), but also with the fact that Billy was perfectly happy to sit with Trini in silence (silence was, after all, Trini’s default mode).

“Sure Trini!” Billy smiled.

“Great. I’ll go get our mice,” Trini said, knowing that Billy didn’t like crowds and would have waited until all the other students had left the front of the room before going to collect his mouse. This way, they could get started right away and maybe even get out of class early once they had completed the assignment. Trini was sure that they would both be able to complete the spell today. She had previously managed to Vanish everything except for her mouse’s tail and Billy had successfully Vanished his snail on his first try last class. He had yet to attempt Vanishing a mouse yet. He preferred to observe spells for some time before attempting them. This method worked out well for him, as he was usually able to successfully cast spells on his first try.

Shouts of “Evanesco!” and flashes of light soon filled the classroom. Trini took a deep breath, running the spell through her mind several times before she attempted it. Next to her, Billy seemed to be doing the same thing - he frowned at his mouse in concentration and murmured under his breath. Finally, once Trini felt comfortable, she raised her wand and Billy’s attention turned to her. Instead of shouting her spell like the rest of the students in the classroom, Trini simply breathed out “Evanesco” as she flicked her wand at the mouse on the desk. Suddenly, the mouse was gone and Trini smiled in exhilaration. “I did it!” she looked at Billy triumphantly.

Billy grinned back at her, but then pointed to the desk and crouched down to take a closer look. “Almost, Trini. That was a great try, but there’s still a toenail here.” Trini’s smile fell and she pouted, crouching down to see where Billy was pointing. Sure enough, there was a small little mouse toenail left on the desk in the spot where her mouse had been.

She sighed. “Well, I’ve made progress, at least. I think one more try and I’ll have it down.”

Billy smiled at her encouragingly and nodded enthusiastically. “I think so, Trini! I’ll wait here while you get another mouse.”

Trini smiled at his encouragement and walked to the front of the classroom once more. When she came back, Billy was once again staring at his mouse in concentration, but now he had his wand pointed at the rodent instead of down at his side. It seemed he was getting ready to cast his spell and Trini looked on with interest. Sure enough, a few moments later Billy took a deep breath and murmured “Evanesco!” Just like that, the mouse was completely gone.

Billy clapped his hands together in excitement and Trini cheered. “Yeah! Nice one, Billy!” A few tables away, Colt Wallace looked on in jealousy, his snail still meandering peacefully over his desk (although, to Wallace’s credit, the patterns on the snail’s shell did look a little fainter than they had earlier).

Billy grinned at Trini. “Your turn Trini. You can do it!”

Trini nodded, encouraged by Billy’s success. She took a deep breath and frowned at her mouse in concentration. “Evanesco!” she muttered forcefully. Her mouse vanished and she and Billy immediately crouched down to inspect the table and make sure no tidbits had been left behind. The table was clean and Billy clapped his hands together once more excitedly.

“You did it! I knew you could!” Billy said excitedly.

“Very well done Mr. Cranston and Ms. Gomez,” Professor McGonagall’s voice sounded from behind them and they both turned to see the tall woman standing behind them. “You may leave now if you wish,” Trini and Billy exchanged pleased looks. “ _Don’t_ forget the essay on Vanishing ethics due Friday,” McGonagall added sternly, though Trini thought she detected a hint of a smile on the older woman’s face, which somewhat lessened the intimidation factor. She grinned as she and Billy donned their bookbags, ignoring the sullen gaze of Colt Wallace as they made their way out of the classroom.

………………………..

Trini’s good mood didn’t last much longer. A few hours later, Trini plopped down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall next to Zack, grumbling her hello to the boy and immediately stealing his bowl of beef stew. She let out a borderline obscene moan once the stew hit her tongue, drawing a few stares from nearby Gryffindors, but Trini barely noticed. Why was it that food always tasted ten times better after a hard workout?

“Hello to you too, Crazy Girl,” Zack chuckled good-naturedly as he began spooning more beef stew into a new bowl. “Did you have a good practice?”

Trini hummed noncommittally. She would never complain about Quidditch, but the Ravenclaw captain, Stella, was a total hard-ass (and a complete Quidditch fanatic) and had announced a brand new training schedule that she had developed over the summer that would absolutely test the physical limits of the entire team. After two hours of working on McGonagall’s essay in the library with Billy, Trini was more than ready to get some flying in, but even she had been run ragged by the intense workouts Stella had put them through. Zack poked her in the arm experimentally and she groaned, her arms sore from practice. Not only did the Ravenclaw team do flight exercises (which were incredibly taxing in themselves), but they also did multiple sprints across the Quidditch pitch and a hundred push-ups each.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Trini groaned as she placed her head on her arms, too tired to hold it up anymore.

Zack chuckled once more. “Okay Crazy Girl, let’s talk about something else, then. Kimberly Hart was asking about you today.”

Trini’s head snapped up and she fixed a suspicious look at Zack, who had a slight smile on his face. “Not,” she said in disbelief.

“Yes,” Zack replied simply.

“When?”

“In Transfiguration.”

Trini squinted warily at her best friend. “What did she ask about?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” Zack grinned.

“ZACK,” Trini slapped his arm. “Tell me!”

“Alright, alright Crazy Girl! No need to resort to violence,” Zack rubbed his arm dramatically and Trini rolled her eyes. She hadn’t hit him that hard. “She was just asking about you in general. Like, how often we practice together, how we became best bros, where you learned to do the Wronski Feint. I told her I taught you everything you know, of course.”

“Okay,” Trini scoffed. “That all sounds totally fake, but okay.”

“I’m telling the truth, T. Check it out, she’s looking at you right now,” Zack grinned, pointing subtly towards the Slytherin table at the opposite side of the Great Hall.

Trini looked over, her eyes immediately landing on Kimberly who sat almost directly across from her. The other girl _was_ looking at her. Their eyes met from across the hall and Kim smiled and lifted her hand to wave at Trini. “Uhhh,” Trini said dumbly. She waved back hesitantly and Kim’s smile somehow got even brighter.

“What’d I tell you, Crazy Girl?” Zack nudged her side. Trini groaned. She had been distracted by Kim, but Zack’s elbow had reminded her just how sore she was from practice. She needed a shower and a good night’s rest if she was going to be of any use the next day.

“Okay, I believe you, Z. Although I can’t imagine what Kimberly would want with me. We’ve barely spoken, except for in Potions class.”

“Maybe she wants to _get to know you better,_ ” Zack wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Trini’s heart jumped, but she wasn’t about to go and get her hopes up. That was a rookie move.

“Yeah, maybe Zack,” she said vaguely. “Anyway, I need to go to bed. I’m going to fall over soon. Remind me to kick Stella’s ass, as soon as I can lift my arms.”

Zack just laughed at the empty threat. “Sure thing, T. Good night!”

“Night,” Trini said as she stood and walked toward the doors. She took one last glance in Kimberly’s direction and was startled to see the other girl’s eyes were on her again. Trini waved at her once more and Kimberly’s answering smile was enough to make butterflies flutter in Trini’s stomach. She averted her eyes and gulped. She was too tired to contemplate Kim’s sudden apparent interest in her, but she had a feeling she was going to fall asleep with the image of Kim’s gorgeous smile on her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've always had a bit of a problem with the use of animals in the Harry Potter universe. Where do all the poor Vanished animals go??? Anyway, *no fictional animals were harmed in the making of this fic*
> 
> I hope you all are liking this story so far. Only one more lead character to introduce! I'm writing this as I go, so let me know if there's anything you'd like to see as we move things along


	4. Chapter 4

Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were sharing Charms class this year, which meant that as soon as Trini and Billy walked into Professor Flitwick’s classroom the next day, Trini heard a familiar voice calling out her name excitedly.

“Trini!” Zack called her to where he was sitting beside the Gryffindor Beater Jason Scott. Trini gestured for Billy to follow her to the table, where they claimed two empty seats. Zack was practically bouncing out of his seat, a look of barely restrained glee on his face. “T, guess what happened in Divination today.”

“What happened?” Trini asked distractedly as she pulled out her Charms textbook.

“Jason read my tea leaves and divined that I’m going to totally crush you in our Quidditch match next week and then I’m going to get scouted by the Hollyhead Harpies and offered a spot as their next Seeker.”

Trini, Jason, and Billy exchanged confused frowns, then spoke simultaneously:

“That’s oddly specific,“ Trini commented wryly.

“That’s – That’s not what it said,” Jason protested weakly.

“Divination is an extremely unclear field of magic and all divinations should be corroborated by a secondary source,” Billy stated.

Zack didn’t let their reactions deter him. He grinned boyishly at the three of them. “Just wait and see, you guys. It’ll come true, I know it in my bones.”

Trini chuckled. “Uh huh. What did the tea leaves really say, Jason?”

“Just that there are auspicious winds in his future, whatever that means,” Jason smirked.

“Uh, yeah guys. WINDS. As in, Quidditch winds,” Zack said pointedly.

“The interpretations of that divination are limitless,” Billy frowned, and Trini grinned.

“A bottle of butterbeer says WE’RE going to crush YOU in our match next week,” she said confidently.

“HAH! You’re on, Crazy Girl! You have no idea what you’re in for. Jason’s been training us like crazy. We’re practically pros now,” Zack shot back at her, poking her in the cheek.

She slapped his hand away and glared at him, but stopped herself from replying when Professor Flitwick cleared his throat from the front of the classroom and began lecturing. She settled for sticking her tongue out at the boy. Not her best comeback, but she wasn’t keen to get caught talking in class, especially not by her Head of House.

Charms went by quickly, as it usually did. It was by far the most fun class they had at Hogwarts (Care of Magical Creatures was a close second) and class that day was dedicated to non-verbal Silencio charms. Trini took great pleasure in watching Zack open and close his mouth wordlessly after successfully casting the charm on him for the first time.

“First time you’ve ever been quiet, I think this might be my favorite charm, Zack,” she said…or she would have said, but no words came out of her mouth. She whirled around to shoot a hard glare at the culprit, but she couldn’t stay mad when she saw Billy standing behind her, wand pointed at her and an apologetic look on his face.

“Sorry, Trini,” he grimaced, “I didn’t mean to, I swear! But I was running the spell through my head and I must’ve accidentally done it non-verbally!”

Trini smiled at the boy and held up a hand to placate him. She could never stay mad at Billy. He immediately stopped talking and smiled at her sheepishly. A sudden movement to her right caught her attention and she saw Zack howling with silent laughter. Her face dropped into a scowl and she was about to make a snarky remark towards him – before remembering that she couldn’t say anything at all. This only succeeded in making Zack laugh harder.

“Good job everyone!” Professor Flitwick squeaked out from somewhere in the middle of the classroom, the top of his head only just visible above the desks near where he had been coaching Wen Reddinger Silence Stella, who now stood fuming wordlessly at having lost her voice. “The Silencio charms should wear off within the next thirty minutes or so. Make sure to drink lots of water. Class dismissed!”

Trini let herself be herded out of the classroom along with the other students, and she waved goodbye to Jason and Zack as they headed away towards History of Magic. Zack waved back, winking and mouthing “Good luck with Kim!” as he walked backwards, bumping haphazardly into Jason with every other step. Trini rolled her eyes at him, but gulped as she turned to walk towards the dungeons with the rest of the Ravenclaw fifth-years, a wave of apprehension washing over her as her thoughts turned toward the Slytherin girl she would be seeing in just a few minutes. She was almost happy that she wasn’t able to speak so she wouldn’t have to worry about being a stuttering mess in front of the other girl. Trini wondered if the two of them would be partnering together again.

Upon walking into the Potions classroom, Trini’s eyes immediately sought out the table in the front of the classroom where Kim usually sat with her friend Amanda. She fought down her disappointment when she saw Kim’s empty chair, but didn’t think too much of it. Kim was probably just running a little bit late to class. Trini pushed down her disappointment and busied herself with digging through her bookbag for her textbook as she made her way to her usual table at the back of the room.

“Hi.”

Trini reached her table and looked up in surprise at hearing the the familiar voice. Her eyes widened when she saw that her table (which she usually sat at by herself) was already occupied by none other than Kimberly Hart.

Trini realized that she had been staring for a few more seconds than would be considered polite. She gulped and gave the girl in front of her a tight smile, throwing up a few fingers in greeting. Kim smiled back at her and immediately started talking a mile-a-minute.

“So I was thinking we could work together again today. Not that we have to, or anything. It was just really nice working with you on Tuesday and it would be nice if we could do it again.” Trini just stared at the Slytherin girl, shocked that Kim had actively sought her out - again. Kim seemed to read Trini’s silence as hesitance and her eyes widened suddenly. “Unless – unless you don’t want to work together again,” she said, worrying at her lip anxiously. “I was probably slowing you down last class, wasn’t I? I’m sorry, I should just go back to my usual seat. Nevermind, forget about it –“ she fervently began gathering her textbook and quill that had been lying on the desk.

Trini’s mind – which had been wiped completely blank in her surprise – suddenly went into overdrive when she saw Kim gathering her things. As nerve-wracking as she found being anywhere in Kim’s vicinity, Trini didn't actually want her to go.  Without realizing what she was doing, she found herself laying her hand on Kim’s shoulder to get her attention.

Kim immediately froze and Trini pulled her hand back suddenly. _Stupid,_ she thought. She shouldn’t have done that. Maybe Kim was like Billy and didn’t like to be touched without permission.

“Sorry,” Trini mouthed, and Kim immediately relaxed and smiled at Trini once more. Trini smiled back and tried to mime that she would be happy to work together again. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it, because Kim only looked back at her in confusion. Trini huffed in frustration, regretting that she ever thought it was a good thing that she couldn’t talk – she was sure she looked like a damn cavewoman at that moment. Trini sighed and tore out a sheet of paper from her notebook, hunching over it with her quill before passing it to Kim to read.

_Can’t talk. Got Silencio-ed in Charms. I’d like to work with you again._

Trini watched carefully as Kim quickly read through the short note. A bright smile formed once more on the other girl’s face as she looked back at her and Trini briefly considered whether it was possible to fly without a broom because she felt as though she was high up in the clouds when Kim smiled at her like that. She watched as Kim seemed to think for a moment, then took her quill up and wrote something on the sheet of paper Trini had just passed to her. She slid it back to Trini, who took it and tried to ignore the eruption of butterflies in her stomach as their fingers brushed ever so slightly.

_Too bad you can’t talk. I like your voice._

Trini immediately felt herself blush and she cast a shy glance at Kim. The other girl was avoiding her gaze, instead focusing on starting the fire underneath their cauldron. Trini studied her for a moment, more confused than anything, but pleased as well. What Kim had written seemed…promising. Trini tried not to let her thoughts run away from her, but as she snuck quick glances at the girl sitting next to her, she could just imagine that the red tint on Kim’s face was a blush and not just a reflection of the light from the cauldron fire.

…………………………

Trini usually had no issue concentrating in Potions class. She had always considered potion-making to be a fascinating art and paid more attention in Potions than in any of her other courses. That day, however, was different. Because that day, Trini was seated next to the lovely, kind, beautiful Kimberly Hart, who adorably color-coded her lecture notes, who had elegant handwriting, and who smelled faintly of lavender and bubblegum and – Trini suddenly realized that she had been staring at the girl beside her for far too long. She straightened her posture and focused her attention once more on Professor Slughorn’s booming voice.

“The trick to knowing when the Venemous Tentacula’s poison is ready to harvest lies in recognizing when the Tentacula’s behavior begins to change. Young plants are typically much more docile than mature ones, so once the Tentacula begins trying to choke anyone within a five foot radius, THAT’s when you know it is ready!” Professor Slughorn lectured excitedly.

Trini zoned out again. She knew all this, of course. She had read it in her Potions book over summer, when she often had nothing better to do than read up on the magical world. Her mind began to wander once again to the Slytherin girl who sat beside her, but she caught herself before she could start staring again. _Don’t be creepy, Gomez,_ she chided herself. Kimberly Hart had her fair share of fawning admirers, she didn’t need yet another hormonal teenager clinging to her when all she probably wanted was a friend. Not even that. As far as Trini knew, Kimberly just wanted a Potions partner who knew what they were doing, unlike the majority of the class, who considered Potions the most difficult course Hogwarts offered.

Trini focused her mind instead on Quidditch and ran through the formations Stella had made them practice yesterday. She thought about her bet with Zack – a bottle of butterbeer wasn’t exactly high stakes, but Trini wanted to win the bet out of pride over anything else. She let herself imagine winning the game against Gryffindor next week. She imagined catching the Snitch, the roar of the crowd as her teammates hugged in mid-air, the look of awe on Kim’s face as she gazed at Trini from the stands…

Trini opened her eyes. _Dammit,_ she thought, frustrated. She was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else when her crush was sitting barely two feet away, looking at her, speaking to her in her melodic voice –

Wait.

Kim was speaking to her. Trini blinked and tried to catch up to what the other girl was saying. “ – Saturday morning might be a good time to go, since the other students will probably go on Saturday afternoon and I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be eager to face a Venemous Tentacula after it’s been manhandled by a bunch of inexperienced fifth-years…Trini?”

“Uh?” Trini replied hoarsely, barely even registering that her voice had come back at some point in the past hour and a half. _Way to go, dumbass,_ Trini thought to herself. _Very eloquent._

“Um, does Saturday morning at eight work for you? I wouldn’t be able to get to the greenhouse much later than that - I have Quidditch practice at nine.”

Trini gulped. “Um…yeah. Eight am. Saturday morning. I can do that.”

Kim smiled brightly at her once more before beginning to gather her things and throw them into her bookbag. “Great!” she said brightly. “I’ll see you then!”

Trini simply stared and watched the Slytherin girl meet up with her friend Amanda at the front of the classroom before walking out of the dungeon. She shook herself out of her stupor when Billy stopped by her table, saying something about Prefect duties and Quidditch practice. She would have to ask Billy what the hell kind of assignment Slughorn had given them that would result in her meeting up with Kimberly Hart on a Saturday morning. Alone. Trini gulped. What had she just gotten herself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Ravenclaw, a Slytherin, and a Venemous Tentacula walk into a greenhouse...will Trini manage to keep her cool on Saturday morning? We'll find out next chapter ;) 
> 
> Hope you all are enjoying the story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini is busy. Zack and Jason are either the best or the worst wingmen ever.

“So you’re telling me that Slughorn wants us to go to the greenhouses  _ alone  _ and grapple with a Venemous Tentacula to gather a quart of poison each?” Trini said in disbelief as she and Billy entered the Great Hall for lunch the next day.

This was the first chance she’d had to ask about the assignment Slughorn had given them for the weekend. After Potions the day before, Trini and Billy had separated – Trini to practice Quidditch with Zack and Billy to perform his prefect duties. That evening, they were busy with even more essays to write (McGonagall wanted a foot on the dangers of becoming an Animagus and Trelawney wanted a foot  _ and a half  _ on the history of crystal-gazing – much more than was warranted for the subject, in Trini’s opinion). Then, after staying up until long after the fire in the Ravenclaw common room had dwindled to a few lonely embers, they had been roughly woken up by an antsy Stella, who insisted that the entire Quidditch team sprint down to the pitch for an early morning practice. When asked why they needed to sprint to the field, Stella had only replied that it was ‘character building’, much to Trini’s annoyance. Thankfully, practice only lasted two hours since most of the team had class at 9 am (Trini was very glad she had completed her Transfiguration assignment the night before when McGonagall spent five minutes lecturing the class about respecting deadlines after Colt Wallace had failed to turn in his essay).

Billy gave her a curious look as he snagged prime seating by the sweets at the Ravenclaw table. “Well, not alone. It’s a partner exercise. Weren’t you paying attention in class?” he asked as he started loading his plate with treacle tart. Trini opted for the more lunch-appropriate potato fries. They were joined almost immediately by Zack and Jason, the former of which elected to steal Trini’s plate instead of loading up his own. She flicked Zack in the ear to show her annoyance, but wordlessly began gathering another plate of fries, adding a ham sandwich for good measure.

“I was paying attention,” Trini said defensively to Billy, continuing the conversation they had been having before they were distracted by food.

“That’s the voice she uses when she’s lying,” Zack said thickly as he chomped on a mouthful of fries. Trini rolled her eyes at him.

“I’m not lying,” she scoffed.

“There it is again!” Zack crowed triumphantly.

“Ahh, yes I hear it. Your inflection in your previous two statements was slightly different than how you usually talk. I didn’t want to say anything, but since Zack brought it up…” Billy trailed off. “Anyway, it’s a good thing you have Kim for a partner. She takes very good notes, so she can help you if you missed anything else.”

“What’s this?” Zack said, now paying full attention to the conversation and ignoring his half-eaten fries. Trini groaned. She wished Billy hadn’t said anything about her and Kim working together. “Do my ears deceive me? Trini, are you telling me that Kimberly Hart is your  _ partner?” _

“Ugh,” Trini grimaced. “Why did you have to say ‘partner’ like that? And stop wiggling your eyebrows, you’re creeping me out. We’re Potions partners, it’s no big deal.” Trini silently prayed to the universe that Zack would just leave the conversation at that, but she knew the boy wouldn’t give up that easy.

“You’re telling me,” Zack said gleefully, ignoring the glare that Trini aimed at him (that, for the record, would have sent any other person running if it had been targeted at them), “that Kimberly Hart, the girl you’ve been c-“

“Zack, shut  _ up!”  _ Trini interrupted him in a panic. Her eyes flittered to Jason and Billy, who were following the conversation with interest. Zack was the only person who knew she was crushing on Kim, and she very much wanted to keep it that way.

“-asually ignoring for the past five years, is now suddenly your partner?” Zack pushed through her interruption smoothly as if that was what he was going to say all along. Trini scowled at him, silently admonishing him for almost outing her to their friends. He had the good grace to look slightly sheepish in response, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. “What, are you friends now? You trying to replace me, Gomez?”

“I’ve  _ been  _ trying to replace you for years now, Taylor. Get with the program,” Trini shot back.

“Your inflection changed again! That’s your lying voice!” Billy said triumphantly. Zack smirked confidently, and Trini treated him to an epic eye roll.

“Anyway,” she said. “Yes, we’re partners. No, we’re not friends. That’s all there is to it,” she added stiffly.

Jason, who had been silent up to this point, suddenly chimed in, sounding unexpectedly defensive. “Do you not like Kim, Trini? Because she’s my friend and she’s really cool.”

Trini sighed. This was not how she wanted her lunch hour to go. Before she could say anything, Zack replied to Jason for her. “I think Trini  _ not  _ liking Kim isn’t exactly the problem, huh T?”

Trini could have killed Zack in that moment. She really could have. She shot him a withering glare, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

Jason’s eyes widened slightly for a moment. “Oh,” he said in surprise. “ _ Oh,”  _ he repeated when Trini wouldn’t meet his gaze. “So you LIKE…” he trailed off, as if wanting Trini to fill in the blanks for him.

_ …Kim? _

_ …girls? _

The question stood unfinished, but Trini knew what Jason was going to say. She sighed and shot another glare at Zack, who’s face was red with shame. There was no use denying it now, she could tell Jason had put the pieces together. “Yeah, Jace. It’s not a big deal, okay? Don’t tell anyone please?” She looked at him, eyes pleading with him to keep her secret.

Jason softened for a moment. “I won’t tell anyone, Trini. I swear it.”

Trini sighed in relief. “Thanks.”

Jason smiled widely back at her. “No problem, T,” he said, and Trini smiled shyly at him, suddenly feeling much closer to him than before. They had always been friends because they both hung out with Zack, but if Jason was willing to keep her secret and not make fun of her for it, then maybe they were closer than she had thought.

Their little moment was soon interrupted. “…Guys, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Can someone fill me in?” Billy asked in confusion.

………………………………

After lunch, the four of them headed to the Quidditch pitch to do some casual flying and toss around the old, beat-up Quaffle that Jason kept in the Gryffindor locker room. Trini had told Billy her secret on the way to the pitch, not wanting him to feel left out now that Jason knew. She was pleased when he was fully supportive of her and promised not to tease her like Zack usually did. Trini appreciated that.

About an hour into practice, Trini flew down to the ground for a water break, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Jason and Billy now knew about her feelings for Kim and neither of them treated her any differently than before. In fact, she felt much more comfortable in their presence, as if she didn’t have to hide herself anymore. She turned and watched the two of them as Jason tried to score a goal with Billy playing Keeper. Billy was easily blocking all of Jason’s shots, but Jason didn’t let that deter him. Their laughter floated across the pitch to where Trini stood watching fondly.

“Alright, T?”

Trini looked to her right where Zack had snuck up on her. He had been oddly quiet since lunch and he was now looking at her with a deeply apologetic look on her face. She sighed at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to out you, I just wasn’t thinking when I said that.”

To his credit, he did look very apologetic. Trini was mad at him, but everything had turned out okay, hadn’t it? Jason and Billy were cool and she actually felt better now that she wasn’t holding on to the secret of her sexuality quite as tightly as she had been for these past few years. There was something about other people knowing about her secret that felt good. It felt  _ right _ . And Trini knew Zack hadn’t done it on purpose. So how could she stay mad at him?

She scowled at him for long enough to make him squirm, but then relented, gruffly saying, “You’re forgiven. Just don’t do it again, loser.”

Zack broke out into a wide smile and immediately picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Taken by surprise, Trini squealed without meaning to, then growled at the boy when she realized that he had made her make such an undignified noise. “Ugh! Put me down!” Trini yelled, beating her fists onto Zack’s back.

“Now why would I do a thing like that?” Zack teased. Trini huffed and tried to twist out of his grip, but Zack was a lot bigger than her and she couldn’t get away. All she could see was the back of Zack’s black shirt, which she was  _ this  _ close to ripping in irritation. “Yo, Tiny, did you know you weigh, like, less than a Bludger? Seriously. Have you ever picked up a Bludger? Now  _ that  _ I would like to see. Oh, hello. Didn’t see you there.”

Okay, that last part didn’t make sense. Who was Zack talking to?

Before she could assert that she could very easily pick up a Bludger  _ thank you very much _ , Trini found herself back on her feet and took advantage of her new position by immediately pummeling every inch of Zack’s arm that she could reach. “Ow, Crazy Girl! Is this really the kind of impression you want to make on your new Potions partner?”

Wait. What?

Trini looked around and, sure enough, there stood Kimberly Hart with an amused expression. “Nice right hook,” she said. “We can probably put that to use tomorrow when we take on the Venemous Tentacula.”

Trini stared and unconsciously ran a hand through her hair, which she was sure looked incredibly messy after an hour of flying and being manhandled by Zack. “Um,” she said.  _ I should say something. Why the hell won’t my mouth work?  _ Trini was on the verge of panic when she was saved by the sound of Jason’s voice calling.

“Kim!” Jason and Billy flew down to join them. “Hey Kim,” Jason said when he got close enough to talk at a normal volume. He landed close to her and pulled her into a quick hug, which she returned warmly. “Here for some practice?”

Kim shrugged. “Yeah. I thought I’d get to the pitch before team Slytherin practice tonight. Divination was my last class of the day and we got out early because Annelise Van der Wol thought she saw a Grim in her tea leaves and freaked out. Professor Trelawney had to take her to the Hospital Wing for a calming draught. Personally, I thought it looked more like a billy goat, but it’s all up to the interpretation, right?” She grinned at the four of them and Trini suddenly noticed that the other girl was carrying her Nimbus 2000 over her shoulder. How had she missed that before? Oh, right. Gay panic.

“Well it’s good you’re here! Trini and I have to head up to Defense Against the Dark Arts, so maybe you could play with Jason and Zack,” Billy said.

For a moment, something like disappointment flashed across Kim’s face, but it was replaced with a smile so quickly that Trini thought she might have just imagined it. “Yeah! That’d be cool! I have a whole hour to kill before the rest of the team shows up,” she exclaimed.

With that, Billy and Trini took their leave, and Trini was thankfully saved from being a stuttering mess once more. She waved goodbye to the others, but before she could turn to go, she found herself engulfed in a hug by Zack. “Oof, what the –“

“Don’t worry Crazy Girl, me and Jason will use our time wisely to talk you up to Kim,” Zack whispered as he squeezed the life out of her. Trini wheezed in response. When he finally let her go, Kim was looking at them but quickly turned around to talk to Jason, who shot Trini a discreet thumbs-up when Kim looked away. Trini cringed slightly, but she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to have her friends talk her up, right? …Right? Zack walked backwards from her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and Trini almost changed her mind. But before she could put a stop to anything, Billy was tugging on her sleeve.

“Come on, Trini. We’re going to be late.”

She let herself get dragged away by her fellow Ravenclaw, but not before sending a warning glance to Zack that clearly said  _ do NOT fuck this up.  _ She wasn’t sure she felt all that reassured by Zack’s responding wink.

……………………………………

Defense Against the Dark Arts was always an interesting class, and that day was no different. By the time the Ravenclaws had finished learning all about the vampire rebellion of 1887 and practicing the Lamina Revelio (to reveal vampires in one’s vicinity), Mordices Abfero (to remove a vampire’s fangs), and Relashio (to break a vampire’s grip should one catch you) charms, Trini had all but forgotten Zack and Jason’s plan to impress Kim for her. After class had ended, Billy left to perform prefect duties and Trini walked to the Great Hall, her thoughts split between the foot-long essay on vampire rights Professor Boon had just assigned them and the food waiting for her in the Great Hall. She was absolutely famished after doubling up on Quidditch practice that day.

Upon walking into the Great Hall, she was immediately called over by Zack and Jason, both of whom were waving at her excitedly. “What’s up, guys?” Trini asked as she sat down and pulled a leg of chicken off of Zack’s plate.

“Nothing,” Jason grinned. He smiled at Trini, who eyed him suspiciously. “Except Zack and I might be the world’s best wingmen.”

Trini immediately remembered the boys’ promise to talk her up to Kim. She chewed her food thoughtfully, more to give her mouth something to do other than plying the two Gryffindors with a million questions. She raised a single eyebrow, trying to act nonchalant when really she was bursting to know what Jason and Zack had said to Kim.

“So,” Zack bounced up and down in his seat excitedly. “Aren’t you going to ask us  _ why  _ we’re the best wingmen ever?”

Trini sniffed. “Okay, I’ll bite. What did you say to her?”

Zack and Jason both lit up with wide smiles. “Okay, so first I was like – ‘Trini’s so awesome, right?’” Zack gushed. “And then Jason was like, ‘Yeah, totally. Did you see her score that goal on Billy earlier? She’s almost as good as you, Kim.’”

Jason jumped in. “And then Kim was like, ‘Oh, really? That’s cool.’ And then Zack said ‘Hey, I wanna play Keeper.’”

“And then we started playing Quidditch until the rest of the Slytherin team showed up,” Zack finished proudly.

Trini stared at them.

“Really?  _ That  _ makes you the best wingmen ever?” she sighed, glad that she had been distracted enough by DADA and hadn’t gotten her hopes up about any results coming from the boys talking to Kim.

Zack looked affronted. “What are you talking about? I said you were awesome, and Kim was like ‘That’s cool.’”

Trini scoffed. “Please. That hardly even counts as a conversation. I could wingman circles around you fools.”

Jason got a sudden gleam in his eye. “Bet you can’t,” he smirked.

Now, Trini had never backed down from a bet before and she wasn’t about to start now. She grinned. “Oh yeah? What do you wanna bet?”

The blonde-haired boy stared up at the ceiling in thought, although Trini knew that it was all for show. She had the distinct feeling that she was being set up for something. Finally, Jason looked back at her.

“You win and I’ll wear a flowery pink muumuu all day on our first Hogsmeade trip.”

“Hah!” Trini snorted, already picturing the buff blonde-haired Gryffindor Beater in one of her abuela’s favorite dresses. She and Zack broke out in laughter at the mental image.

“BUT,” Jason held up a finger, “If  _ I  _ win, you have to ask Kim to spend the day with you on our first Hogsmeade trip.”

Trini’s laughter died out in a strangled sort of cry. She stared at the two Gryffindor boys as they smiled back at her, looking more like Cheshire cats than anything. She scowled at them in suspicion. Had this been their plan all along? They both knew that her pride would never let her back out of a bet. She’d always been that way and they were fully aware of this, especially since that time in third year when she’d spent an entire night in the Forbidden Forest, all so she could win a box of Chocolate Frogs from Zack.

Trini took a deep breath. There was no way she was going to back away from this. And besides, she was  _ pretty  _ sure she could easily find Jason a date. He was, after all, the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and handsome to boot. Trini was sure any girl would fall head over heels if Jason even so much as looked in their direction.

She held out a hand to seal the deal, and Jason shook it, smiling widely. “Okay,” she said. “So, who’s the lucky girl I’m going to have to woo for you, Jace?”

Jason and Zack smirked at each other in a way that had Trini staring at them in trepidation.

“What makes you so sure it’s a girl, Crazy?” Zack grinned.

Trini stared at them, eyes flicking between Jason and Zack. They finally landed on Jason, who raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?” he said. “You think you hold the market on being queer in this school?”

“Oh,” Trini said, dumbfounded. She quickly recovered, though.  _ Unbelievable,  _ she thought to herself,  _ I’m the last person who should be caught up in compulsory heterosexuality. _ “Sorry, Jace. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

The Gryffindor boy smiled easily back at her. “It’s alright, T.”

Trini cleared her throat. “So,” she said, “who’s the lucky  _ person  _ I’m going to have to woo for you, Jace?”

Jason got a faraway look in his eyes and looked toward the doors of the Great Hall. “You’re looking at him,” he sighed.

Trini turned to see where Jason was staring. The person who had just walked into the Great Hall immediately spotted her and waved. She waved back weakly and watched as Billy Cranston made his way towards the three of them. She gulped.  _ This might be harder than I thought. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I promised the greenhouse scene between Trini and Kim this chapter, but I guess I got sidetracked. It will for sure be in the next chapter tho. 
> 
> CranScott has made an entrance! I wasn't planning on writing that in here, but I was trying to think of a way Trini could possibly be challenged in her wingman bet and I thought Billy would be the perfect crush for Jason! Who knows if Billy is going to like Jason back? Who knows if Trini is going to win her bet?.....literally no one. Not even me, because I defs don't think any of this out before I write. 
> 
> So we'll see!
> 
> Also , the DADA professor in this story is called Professor Boon. I know lots of fics have Harry Potter as the DADA professor, but honestly I just didn't want to focus the story on anything other than my Rangers. So although the professors from the Potter Universe are in the story, Harry, Ron, and Hermione most likely won't be. Let's just think of this story as taking place during the time with our fav magical trio is working at the Ministry and their old professors have not yet retired.


	6. Chapter 6

Trini woke up that Saturday to a gentle nudging on her cheek. “Hmmmm,” she groaned, rolling over to her side and pulling her blanket over her head. If there was one thing in the world that Trini was absolutely sure of, it was that Saturdays were for sleeping in. “Leave me alone,” she grumbled.

“I’m sorry, but Miss Trini asked for a wake up at 7 am?” a tiny voice squeaked out and Trini felt another nudge on her cheek.

“Huhhhhh,” Trini groaned once more, but threw off her blanket to see a pair of large brown eyes peeking out at her from the side of her bed. “Morning, Fili,” she smiled lazily.

“Good morning, Miss! Fili was sent to wake you up. Are you awake, Miss?” The house elf stood up on her tiptoes to peer over the side of Trini’s bed for a closer look at the girl’s face. Trini blinked blearily and caught a glimpse of the house-elf’s freshly pressed toga and the gleaming Hogwarts crest pinned to her shoulder. She sat up slowly and threw her legs over the bed, languidly scratching her head.

“I’m up, Fili. Thanks for waking me,” she yawned and smiled when the house-elf puffed her chest out with pride.

“Of course, Miss Trini! It was my pleasure,” Fili bowed deeply. “Is there anything I can get for you, Miss Trini? Some coffee? A biscuit?”

Trini yawned once more. “Thanks, Fili! I’m going down to the Great Hall for breakfast in a few minutes, I just need to get my things together.”

“As you wish, Miss Trini. Have a good day, Miss!” Fili squeaked before turning and disappearing with a soft whoosh.

Trini slowly stood up and stretched her arms over her head, letting out another big yawn. Jeez, maybe she should have taken Fili up on that coffee offer. She’d just have to stop by for some at the Great Hall before she met up with Kim at the greenhouses.

Trini felt a tingling sensation in her fingertips and rubbed her hands together nervously as she thought of how she was going to spend the next hour with Kim. She went to the window and stuck her hand out  quickly. The fall air was cool and a bit nippy – it was a perfect day to wear her favorite gray beanie and the yellow bomber jacket Zack had gotten her for her last birthday. Trini walked back to her four-poster and pulled out some clothes, adding a plain white t-shirt and her favorite ripped blue jeans to complete her outfit. She dressed quickly, stopping intermittently for a good yawn here and there. It wasn’t often that she could be woken up this early on the weekend – even Stella, the crazy Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, knew better than to try to get Trini to show up to practice this early on the weekend. But in this case…well, it was Kim she was waking up for. Even if she was feeling extremely nervous about spending time alone with the other girl, she was still kind of…excited? Trini just hoped she didn’t embarrass herself.

Trini entered the Great Hall and looked around, half expecting to see Kimberly eating breakfast at the Slytherin table. There were a handful of other kids in the Great Hall eating breakfast at this ungodly hour, but Trini was disappointed to see that none of them were her Potions partner. Trini shrugged internally - it didn’t hurt to have more time to prep for spending the next hour alone with her crush. Talking points - should she come up with things to talk about with Kim? Trini racked her brain for a few minutes, but she was drawing a blank. She blamed her inability to think on being deprived of her Saturday sleep-in.

Trini sighed as she sipped on her coffee, instead choosing to focus her thoughts on running through what she knew about harvesting Venemous Tentacula poison. Once she had reviewed the steps in her head a few times, she looked at her watch. It was 7:45. She pulled herself out of her seat and made her way through the tall double doors of the Great Hall and out to the grounds, turning towards the greenhouses as soon as she made her way down the front steps.

She walked slowly, nerves building with each step she took. Soon enough, the greenhouses came into view and Trini’s breath caught at the sight of Kimberly Hart leaning casually against Greenhouse III’s glass windows. She was wearing black jeans and a fuzzy gray jumper that was just slightly over-sized. Trini felt her heart give a strange little squeeze - damn, Kim was cute. The other girl’s face was upturned, her eyes closed – if she wasn’t standing upright and slowly drumming the fingers of her right hand against her thigh, Trini might have thought she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful, Trini almost didn’t want to disturb her.

Trini walked up to the other girl and shifted her weight awkwardly, wondering what the best way to announce her presence was. _Just say something, jeez,_ Trini thought exasperatedly to herself after several moments of this.

“Uh, hey Kim,” she said, mentally congratulating herself for not stumbling over her words.

An instant later, Kim’s chocolate brown eyes were on her and she was smiling brightly, as she always seemed to do.

“Hi Trini!” Kim said. “Nice morning, isn’t it?”

Trini looked up uncertainly at the gray, overcast sky. “Um, yeah. Sure,” she said. It definitely wasn’t her definition of a nice morning, but she wasn’t about to argue with Kimberly Hart. She looked back at the other girl, who was looking at her expectantly. _Right, this is the time when words come out of your mouth,_ Trini thought to herself.

“So, uh, shall we get started?” Trini asked, gesturing vaguely at the greenhouse door.

Kim jumped slightly and looked at the greenhouse door, as if just remembering why they were there. “Yes,” she said determinedly. “Um…” she trailed off. Trini waited patiently for her to say whatever it was she wanted to say. “I, um, I’m a little nervous,” Kim admitted after a moment.

Trini opened the greenhouse door and looked back at the other girl, nodding thoughtfully. “Don’t worry, I’ve helped in the greenhouses on occasion. The Venemous Tentacula is intimidating, but it’s easy enough to handle if you know what to do.”

Kim stared at her for a moment. “Yeah, totally. The Venemous Tentacula is…what I’m nervous about. But yeah, you’re right, they’re easy to handle if you remember to…” she trailed off, looking at Trini uncertainly.

Trini smiled at her, quickly stepping into the persona she used when tutoring first- and second-years. This was something she could focus on, rather than on the fact that she was a hot gay mess. “Wand at the ready,” she said confidently, and Kim nodded before pulling out her wand. “Our goal is to get the Tentacula to latch onto our sampling jars and spit venom into them. It should be easy enough, we just have to coat the rim of the jars with honey and hold it out in front of us. The Tentacula will go for it.” Kim nodded fervently, taking in every one of Trini’s words. Trini continued, turning to the open greenhouse door and taking a few steps in. “If it grabs you, cast Relashio. And if we really get into trouble, we can cast Incendio to scare it off. That’s a last resort, though. If it gets scared by fire it’ll retreat into its pot and we’ll have a hard time getting venom from it then.”

Trini bent down to one of the shelves near the greenhouse door, taking a jar in each hand. “Found some jars,” she said. When she didn’t hear a reply, she turned. “Kim?” Kim was standing where she left her, gaping slightly. Trini frowned.  “Are you okay, Kim?” she asked in concern. The other girl looked slightly dazed, as if she had been hit in the head in the short time Trini’s back had been turned to her.

The other girl seemed to shake herself. “Um…yeah! I’m fine. Let’s just…let’s get that Tentacula venom,” she said cheerily.

Trini stared at her. “Okay,” she said slowly. That was…a little weird. She watched as Kim scanned the room before walking towards the corner and plucking a jar from the shelf.

“Found the honey!” she exclaimed, practically prancing back towards Trini. She presented a jar to the shorter girl, along with a toothy grin. Trini took it, granting Kimberly a small half-smile in thanks. They wordlessly set about applying honey to the rims of their empty jar, only speaking when they were fully prepared to meet the Venemous Tentacula.

Trini pulled out her wand. Beside her, Kim did the same. They both turned to the door at the back of the greenhouse that separated them from the dangerous plant section. Trini took a deep breath and looked to Kim on her right. “Ready?” she asked. The other girl simply nodded. Together, they opened the door and jumped in.

…………………

An hour later, Trini had a scratch on her cheek and Kim had a tear in her shirt, but the two girls sat panting on the ground outside the greenhouse, triumphantly holding onto their jars of Tentacula poison.

“I take back what I said,” Kim said breathlessly. “Maybe it would have been better to do this in the evening after the other students had a go. Maybe they would have tired it out for us.” Trini looked at Kim beside her and the next thing she knew, the two of them were giggling, which soon turned into full-on laughter until both girls were lying back against the greenhouse windows, holding their stomachs.

Once they had calmed down, Trini looked up to the sky. It was still overcast and gray, and the sky threatened to open up at any given second. “Not exactly prime Quidditch weather, is it?”

Kim looked up too, seemingly noticing the dreariness of the day for the first time. “Yeah, but it’s always fun to play in the rain,” she said, smiling slightly.

Trini looked at her. “You’re an optimistic one, aren’t you?” she chuckled lightly.

The other girl smiled and looked over at Trini. Suddenly her hand was on Trini’s cheek, caressing it softly. Trini froze. Time seemed to stop. She looked at Kim in surprise. Funny how breathing didn’t seem to be a thing anymore.

“You should get Madame Pomfrey to fix that up for you,” Kim said before dropping her hand suddenly.

“Wh – what?” Trini stuttered.

“Your cut,” Kim said, before suddenly standing up. “You should get that looked at.”

 _Oh right. I’m an idiot,_ Trini thought. For a second there, she had gotten her hopes up. Stupid.

Kim held out a hand and Trini stared at it for a second before grabbing it and letting the other girl pull her to her feet. “Um,” Kim said as she fidgeted with her jar of poison, “Thanks for your help, Trini. I doubt I could have done that without you,” she smiled.

“What are Potions partners for?” Trini smiled, trying not to think of how soft Kim’s hand felt in hers. “I, uh, I guess you need to get to Quidditch practice huh?”

“Yeah. I probably should,” Kim said reluctantly. “Trini, can I ask you something?”

Trini felt a sudden swooping sensation in her stomach and a buzzing in her fingertips. She gulped subtly before saying, “Yeah, sure Kim. What is it?”

Kim took a deep breath and seemed to steel herself. “Would you –“ she gulped. “Will you – I mean, if you wanted to. You don’t have to. It’s stupid, nevermind.”

Trini stared at the flustered girl in confusion. Kim seemed really embarrassed, for some reason. “Uh, Kim?” Trini asked, frowning.

“Yeah?” Kim looked at her hopefully.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you never actually asked me anything,” Trini said slowly. A thought hit her and she felt her heartbeat quicken. Was Kim trying to ask her out?

Kim looked at her for a moment, eyes wide. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I just wanted to ask you if you would,” she took a deep breath, blinking rapidly, “...tutor me. In Potions.”

Trini suddenly felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs. How could she ever be so dumb as to think that Kim wanted to ask her out? As if that would ever happen. “Sure, Kim,” she squeaked.

“Really?” Kim breathed, eyes wide.

Trini gulped and tried for a smile, but she was afraid it may have come off more as a grimace. “Yeah. Of course, Kim.”

Kim gave her yet another one of those dazzling smiles and Trini felt her stupid, gay breath catch. “Thanks Trini!” she squeezed her hand and Trini’s heart jumped as she realized that Kim still had a hold of her. As soon as that realization hit, Kim dropped her hand. “I’ll see you later,” she chirped brightly before turning and heading toward the Quidditch pitch, her brown shoulder-length hair blowing in the wind.

Trini watched as she walked away, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest. What the hell had she gotten herself into this time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Trini ever stop being a gay mess? I'm sure she'll get used to being around Kim...eventually.
> 
> On the other hand, Kim's a bit of a mess around Trini too. Hmmmmm, interesting...


	7. Chapter 7

“Sup Crazy Girl?” Zack looped his arm around Trini’s shoulder, startling her out of her gloomy thoughts as she walked across the grounds.

Trini raised an eyebrow at the tall boy as he fell into step beside her. “What are you doing here, Z?”

Zack grinned. “Oh nothing,” he said, “Just thought it would be a nice time to take a walk. Lovely day, isn’t it?”

Trini stared at him in suspicion. “It’s literally about to pour. It’s not a nice time for a walk. What are you really doing out on the grounds?”

“Nice battle scar,” Zack deflected her question, pointing at the cut on her cheek. “Want me to take care of that for you?” He pulled his wand out and waved it around. Trini stopped walking and nodded. If there was one thing she trusted Zack with, it was healing spells. She was pretty sure the boy was destined to be a Healer. “Hold still,” Zack said. He pointed his wand at her, frowning in concentration. “Episkey,” he murmured, and Trini felt a warm tingling feeling replace the dull ache of her cut. She lifted her hand to feel her face, but Zack stopped her. “Hold on. Scourgify. There, good as new!”

Trini felt at her now-healed cheek and smiled gratefully at her friend, relishing the fact that she could do so with no pain whatsoever. “Thanks, Z. Now stop avoiding my question - what are you really doing out on the grounds?”

Zack grinned slyly. “Alright you got me, Crazy. I may have been…spyingonyouandKim,” Zack said quickly.

Trini stopped walking abruptly. “You were what now?”

Zack clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Relax, T! I was just making sure you were doing alright out there. You two seemed to be getting along well,” he smirked.

Trini sighed and averted her gaze from Zack’s hopeful smile. “She asked me to tutor her in Potions.”

Zack grinned widely. “Nice! Get some! …One-on-one time, that is,” he winked, then peered closely at Trini’s face. “Aaaaaaand for some reason you’re not jumping up and down with joy,” he added. “Why not?”

Trini looked away, choosing to focus on watching a couple of bowtruckles playing on the willow tree by the lake. “Triniiiiii?” Zack prodded her cheek incessantly until she finally huffed and shot him an annoyed look.

“I thought…I thought she was going to ask me out. And she didn’t. She asked me to tutor her instead,” Trini confessed, embarrassed.

Zack shook his head, tutting. “Trini, Trini, Trini. Don’t you see? You get some alone time with Kimmy, show off your Ravenclaw smarts, and BAM –“ Zack smacked his hands together loudly, “-the girl falls in love with your broody ass.” He shrugged. “It’s inevitable.” He threw his arm around her shoulder once more.

She shot him a dubious look.

“Now don't look at me like that, T,” he shook his finger a little too close to her face and she swatted at it in annoyance. He grinned in response. “You're Trini Gomez! You’re the amazing Ravenclaw Seeker! You glowed up over the summer and now you've got boys and girls tripping over themselves to get close to you! You seriously don't think Kimberly Hart is one of them?”

Now Trini was just confused. “The fuck you talking about, Zack?”

Zack huffed a laugh. “Please. Like you don't know.” His grin slowly faded as Trini continued to look at him blankly. “You really don't know? Damn, T, I know you wear contacts, but I didn't know you were _that_ blind. Have you even noticed that people have been flirting with you ever since we got to Hogwarts this year?”

Trini crossed her arms and aimed an irritated stare at Zack. “No one’s been flirting with me, dumbass. I think I would know if someone was.”

Zack crossed his arms as well, but the look he aimed at Trini was more amused than anything. “Really now? So tell me, have you really not noticed that Stephanie Beeker has been dropping her pencil every time she's near you so she has an excuse do the bend-and-snap?”

“The bend and wha-” Zack didn't give Trini a chance to finish.

“And what did you think last week when Jeremy Jackson asked you to feel his bicep?”

Trini’s eyes widened. “We were talking about Quidditch! He was talking about the Hufflepuff team’s training regimen!”

Zack snorted. “I was right there, Crazy. I’m pretty sure I didn't imagine his look of disappointment when all you said after feeling his arm was 'nice dude.’” He emphasised his impression of Trini with a surfer-dude accent.

“That's not what I sound like.”

But Zack ignored her. He was on a roll now. “And have you seriously never noticed that Sophie from Slytherin always - _always -_ touches your arm when she talks to you? I swear, I'm not imagining this - last week we passed by her on the way to the Quidditch pitch and she ran up to you just to say hi and then she touched your arm and _giggled,_ then ran away!”

Trini's eyes were unfocused as she thought back to all these events. Being on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team meant that other people talked to her often, and Trini _had_ noticed that slightly more people were talking to her this year than they had previously. Now, Trini wasn't exactly the most outgoing person but she wasn't rude, so she always responded in a friendly way. It had never occurred to her that people were talking to her for _more_ than friendly reasons.

Zack was now looking at her with a fond, yet exasperated expression. He sighed. “Trini, Trini, Trini. My friend. My pal. You are very smart, but also so very, very dumb. So much so that it amazes me. My poor, pretty, _very_ dumb bird.” He sighed melodramatically and patted her shoulder pityingly.  

Trini _tsk_ ed at him and rolled her eyes. “Okay, drama queen. Maybe you're right, but I don't see how any of this helps me with Kim. It doesn't matter if other people like me if she doesn't.” She pouted and looked off in the distance uncertainly.

Zack scoffed. “Really? Looking off wistfully into the distance? Now who's the drama queen?” He punched her arm playfully. “Trini, I'm going to get real with you for a second, then I'm going to get back to being the comedic relief, alright?”

“Comedic relief, wha-”

Zack waved her question away impatiently and placed his hands on her shoulders. He looked her dead in the eyes and said, “Trini Gomez, you are smart, fun, and beautiful. You're a crazy good Seeker and you’re in the top five of every class, which it totally excessive in my opinion, but amazing nonetheless. You're funny and kind and just an all-around awesome person. And I know I might be biased because you're my best friend and whatever, but I swear everything I just said is true. Kimberly Hart would be the new Crazy Girl if she didn’t like you back.”

Zack's words washed over her like a warm wave and before she knew it, Trini was hugging the tall boy, subtly wiping her eyes on his t-shirt. “That was really nice, Zack. Thanks.”

Zack held her tightly. “Anytime, T,” he said affectionately. He released her and smiled warmly before smirking at a sudden thought. “Plus, you've got the cutest little cheeks! They're just so squishy!” He pinched her cheeks to prove his point.

Trini swatted his hands away and felt her cheeks flush red. Zack cooed. “Why you always gotta ruin the moment, Z?”

Zack just laughed in response. “Now come on, Crazy Girl. Billy wants to show us something in the library.”

Trini let Zack lead her up to the library, trying with all her might to put her thoughts of Kim behind her. For once, Zack’s inability to stay quiet worked in her favor – once they had set off, he began to regale her with a hilarious story of how Jason accidentally gave himself a pig’s nose in Transfiguration. Soon enough, they were entering the library and Trini was too busy laughing along to think too hard about a certain brown-eyed Slytherin.

“ – and then – wait for it – McGonagall pointed her wand at him all menacing-like, and he _squealed!_ Jason Scott, Gryffindor Beater -extraordinaire, squealed like a pig!” Zack told her in between laughs. By this point, Trini was holding her stomach and wiping tears from her eyes. “I mean, he had nothing to worry about – McGonagall just Transfigured his nose back to normal – but the _noise_ he made! If you want to know exactly what it sounded like, imagine an Acromantula mated with a Crumple-Horned Snor–”

“Mr. Taylor! Ms. Gomez! You would do well to remember that this is a library! Your incessant laughter is NOT welcome here,” Madam Pince appeared behind Zack’s shoulder, giving the two of them a stern look.

Zack and Trini stifled their laughter quickly and backed away from the school librarian, holding their hands up apologetically. “Sorry Madame Pince,” Zack stage-whispered. The librarian simply glared at them and watched them, hawk-like, as they walked away.

Soon enough, they found themselves at the large table in the back of the library where Billy usually studied. There they found their friend, along with Jason who (Trini noticed with interest) was smiling dreamily at the other boy in a way that made Trini suspect he wasn't taking in a single word of what Billy was saying. Billy hadn't noticed. The two boys were leaning over a piece of parchment that Billy was pointing to repeatedly.

“Sup, guys?” Trini said upon reaching the two of them. Billy immediately looked up, his face gleeful upon seeing his friends.

“Good, you’re here! I’ve come up with the perfect study plan!” Billy said excitedly. Zack groaned, but Trini looked at the parchment he was pointing to with interest.

“Really, B? _That’s_ what you called us up to the library for? On a _Saturday?!”_ Zack threw himself into one of the plush chairs beside Jason, pouting.

“It’s never too early to start preparing for our OWLs, Zack,” Billy replied seriously. “Trust me, this term might seem easy so far, but we’re in for a rough year. If we keep on top of things, we’ll be able to ace all our OWLs and not fall behind on Quidditch!”

Trini had to hand it to him – Billy sure knew how to catch Zack’s interest. “Not fall behind on Quidditch, you say?” Zack perked up. “Alright, this studying thing – what _is_ studying, anyway?”

Trini rolled her eyes at her friend’s faked ignorance, but Billy just clapped his hands happily before launching into a long, drawn out explanation of the fifth-year curriculum and his expectations for the OWLs. Trini followed along with interest. She might not be as outspoken as Billy about it, but she had very high expectations for herself and her performance on the OWLs. She wasn’t about to let herself get anything less than an _Exceeeds Expectations_ – Merlin forbid she get as low as an Acceptable ( _shudder_ ). No, Trini had always gotten top grades in everything and she was proud of it – even if Zack said being in the top five of every single class was just excessive.

By the end of Billy’s explanation, Trini felt confident that sticking to his study schedule would earn them all top grades, but she did notice something was amiss with the schedule. “Hang on,” she pointed at the spot on the parchment where Billy had written _Saturday, October 7: Transfiguration (Avifors spell practice) & Potions (Felix Felicis review). _“You’ve got us studying that Saturday, but that’s supposed to be our Hogsmeade day. I don’t know about you, but after my celebratory (she eyed Zack smugly) butterbeers for winning the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor match next weekend, I’m probably not going to get much studying done.”

“You’re right!” Billy exclaimed. He hunched over the parchment, studying it with a frown – no doubt trying to find a good day to postpone that study session to.

Out of the corner of her eye, Trini saw Zack nudge Jason, who smirked back at him. They both turned to Trini with sly smiles on their faces. “Someone’s excited about Hogsmeade,” Jason said in a playful, sing-songy voice.

Zack chimed in. “Yeah, I wonder why that might be. It was almost as if someone had a _date_ to look forward to.”

Trini scowled at them as she remembered the bet they had made. There was no way she was going to lose and be forced to ask Kim out, _especially_ after her embarrassment earlier that day. She recalled that she was supposed to be Jason’s wingman and turned her focus once more to Billy. “So Billy,” she said, then stopped. She had no idea where she was going with this. As far as she knew, Billy had never expressed interest in dating anyone and she wasn’t quite sure how to approach the subject with him. “That’s an interesting idea, bringing a date to Hogsmeade. Have you ever…thought about it?”

Billy was busy scribbling on his schedule and didn’t immediately answer her. When he did, he gave her a thoughtful look, frowning slightly. “No, I guess I haven’t, Trini. Why do you ask?”

Trini’s mind went blank. Why _did_ she ask? She couldn’t very well admit that she was trying to score Jason a date with Billy when Jason was sitting _right there._ “Ummm, no reason,” she said. Billy just shrugged and went back to his schedule. Beside them, Zack was laughing silently and Jason was grimacing at Trini as if to say _Is that really the best you can do?_ Trini shrugged. Okay, she had rushed into that. She can’t just spring things like that on Billy, she needs to flesh out her wingman plan (or ‘wingplan’, as she referred to it in her head) a little more before jumping into things. This job would take a little finesse.

She gave Jason a look to say _Relax, I’ve got this,_ and quietly began her scheming.

………………………………………….

Okay, maybe she didn’t have this. It had been a few days since Trini had started putting her plan into action and so far the effect had been…nada. Trini wasn’t sure what she had been doing wrong. She started bringing up Hogsmeade more and more in her conversations with Billy, and had even dropped hints about possibly using the outing as a good date experience. “I’ve heard Madame Puddifoot’s is nice,” she said one day.

Billy only gave her a strange look in return, simply replying “Yes, I’ve heard she has good tea.”

Trini huffed in frustration as she stared across the library table at Billy. He didn’t notice. His attention was focused on the essay he was writing – a foot-long discussion of the uses of the Tentaculus potion, which Slughorn had assigned them at the end of class on Tuesday (Trini had partnered with Kim again and once more, she got through it without doing anything embarrassing - Trini was starting to think that she could do this whole talking-to-your-crush-on-a-regular-basis thing). The essay was due in class the following day, but Trini and Billy had both been too busy to work on it between Quidditch practice and the team tactics meetings that Stella insisted on holding every evening. Trini had only just finished her report and was now racking her brain for ways to make Billy consider dating Jason. She only had a week and a half left before the Hogsmeade outing, and it wasn’t like she had tons of free time for it between classes, Billy’s study plan, and Stella’s crazy practice schedule.

Trini glanced at her watch. Speaking of Quidditch - they only had thirty minutes until Wednesday evening practice. She was about to tell Billy to start packing up, but her words caught in her throat when she spied Kimberly in a comfy chair in the corner of the library. The other girl was hunched over a piece of parchment, scribbling furiously. Trini smiled, unable to stop herself. She thought about Zack’s words of encouragement from the other day. A rush of confidence flooded through her and before she even realized she had started moving, she found herself walking towards the Slytherin girl.

She stopped a couple feet away from the other girl and, as if she some sort of sixth sense telling her when a nervous lesbian was near, Kimberly looked up at her immediately. The concentrated frown she’d had disappeared and she aimed a bright smile at Trini, who grinned back at her unconsciously.

“Trini! Hi!” Kim said.

“Hey Kim,” Trini gave the other girl a small wave, feeling her heart flutter familiarly at being in close proximity with her crush. She adjusted her book bag on her shoulder. “I thought we should talk...you know, about the Potions tutoring.”

Kim nodded. “Yeah! I'm just about finished with the Tentaculus essay right now. Will you be at dinner later? Maybe we could talk about it then - come up with a study plan?”

Trini felt a small thrill run through her at the thought of having dinner with Kim. She smiled for a moment, but then frowned as she remembered Stella's unfortunate propensity for keeping the Ravenclaw team practicing well until after dark. “We have Quidditch practice tonight and probably won't get to the Great Hall for dinner until eight. If you're still around, we can talk about it.”

Trini shifted her feet nervously, sure that the other girl wouldn't want to wait around that long just to talk to her. But to her surprise, Kimberly just smiled and nodded. “That sounds great, Trini!” At that moment, Billy walked up to them with his bookbag in hand.

“Excuse me for interrupting,” he said politely. “Hi Kim,” he smiled at her before turning his attention to Trini, “Trini, we should really get going - you know how crazy Stella gets when we're late to practice.”

Trini barely held back a snort. “More crazy than usual, you mean,” she said dryly. “That girl should be drinking a calming potion instead of coffee in the mornings, she's so worked up about this Gryffindor match.” Kim giggled and Trini felt a rush go through her at the thought that she had made Kim laugh, even though her joke hadn’t been particularly good. She felt a sudden need to make Kim laugh once more.

“Well, I guess I'll see you later, Trini. Bye Billy,” Kim smiled at the two of them. “Have a good practice.”

Trini smiled back and walked away with Billy, glad that she had managed to make it through yet another whole conversation with Kim without making a fool of herself. Her good mood lasted all the way through practice, despite Stella's insistence on having her and the three Ravenclaw Chasers run the same attack maneuver a total of ten times, to the point where Trini was sure the four of them could perform it flawlessly in their sleep.

“Great job, guys!” Stella called to the entire team, half of whom were laying on the ground in complete exhaustion after that last run-through of the attack, which involved an insane amount of passing the Quaffle on the Chaser’s part and an equally insane amount of weaving on Trini’s part. Trini and the Chasers, Wen, Charlie, and Olivia were all lying on the grass, wheezing, but happy to have perfected the maneuver they had all been working so hard on. Billy and the two Beaters, Stella and Scott, had had a relatively easy practice, but Stella promised that Trini and the Chasers would be able to rest the next practice while the rest of the team would be put through the ringer. Scott looked slightly queasy at the thought.

“That’s it for practice for today, guys. We’re doing great!” Stella called. “If we keep this up, there’s no way we’re losing against Gryffindor on Saturday.” Stella grinned proudly at all of them. Trini gave Stella a thumbs up for her praise, still too winded to speak. She pulled herself up from the grass and checked her watch, groaning as her muscles twinged with soreness. It was 7:30. She grinned. She had just enough time to shower and get up to the Great Hall to meet with Kim on-time.

The entire team hurried through their post-practice routine, eager to get to the Great Hall for some food, as they always were after a hard workout. Trini felt her nerves increase with every step towards the castle and tried to distract herself by listening to Wen and Charlie joke around. It worked for a little bit, but as soon as she walked into the Great Hall, all thoughts turned to Kimberly Hart.

Kimbery Hart. There she was - sitting alone at the Slytherin table, slowly paging through the thick Potions textbook she had brought with her. Her back was turned to Trini, but Trini had spent enough time staring at the back of Kim’s head in class to know her short, wavy hair on-sight.

….Okay that sounded way creepy and Trini just realized it. Pretend you didn’t just read that.

Fourth wall aside, Trini took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together nervously. She waved goodbye to the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, who gave her slightly confused looks as she continued past the Ravenclaw table towards the Slytherin table, which was empty except for Kim. Trini ignored her teammates, her mind focused solely on what she should say to Kim. Was ‘hey’ good? No, too casual. ‘Hello’? Too formal. Trini started panicking as she got closer and closer to the other girl. Was it too late to turn back?

Yes it was, because Kimberly seemed to sense that Trini was nearby and turned around, big smile ready on her face. _Moment of truth, T,_ Trini thought. ‘Hi’ was good. Always a classic. Or maybe she should try to be cool and say something like ‘How’s it going?’

One thing was for sure, if Trini didn’t say something soon, she was going to look like a major idiot.

“Hiiii…’s it going?” Trini’s eyes widened in mortification. _Trini, what the fuck?_ She reprimanded herself internally. So much for not sounding like an idiot.

Kim either didn’t notice her slip up or was too polite to mention it. Trini guessed the latter. Either way, Kim simply answered her as if Trini _wasn’t_ dying of embarrassment in front of her. “It’s going great! Especially now that you’re here.” Trini raised an eyebrow in surprise and Kim seemed to catch herself. “Um...because of this!” She raised up her Potions textbook. “You have to help me with this Thenegarian Thirst-Quenching potion Slughorn wants us to make tomorrow, I’m completely lost.”

Trini smiled, more comfortable now that she had a topic of conversation to work with. “Yeah, it’s a difficult one,” she said as she sat down on the bench next to Kim. “The trick is that you have to soak the Flufflegus seeds in water for at least twenty minutes before you start. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to mash them up to the proper consistency.”

Kim’s frowned as she looked down at her book. “Wha- where does it even say that?”

Trini shrugged. “I doubt it’s in this book. It was part of the instructions for the Pepperup Potion - we’ve made that before in class.”

Kim looked at her in amazement. “Pepperup Potion?” she asked, slightly confused. “Didn’t we make that in second year? You remember the instructions from that?”

Trini grinned. “That’s the thing with Potions - we build on everything we’ve ever learned in this class. If you’re unsure of something now, you might actually find your answer in one of our textbooks from a past year.”

“Wow,” Kim said softly. “You’re really smart….I mean, of course you are, you’re in Ravenclaw and you’re top of the Potions class. I didn’t mean to imply that I’m _surprised_ that you’re smart, I’ve always thought you were - I mean, I know we haven’t really talked much before now but I KNEW you were good at Potions because you were the only one last year who made the Confusing Concoction right during the final exam and -”

Trini smiled fondly as Kim began rambling. It was absolutely adorable how flustered Kim got sometimes. Trini would happily sit here and listen to her all day, and she might have, but they were interrupted by a sudden call from the other side of the Great Hall. “Oi! Trini!” Trini and Kim both whipped their heads around to see Stella and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team sitting at the head of the otherwise empty Ravenclaw table. “Team tactics meeting. Two minutes!”

Trini sighed. In her excitement to talk to Kim, she had forgotten about the team tactics meeting. No wonder the others had given her strange looks when she went to sit with Kim. She shot an apologetic look at Kim. “Sorry Kim. I completely forgot about the tactics meeting tonight. We’ve been having them every night to prepare for our match against Gryffindor.”

Kim nodded understandingly. “Don’t worry about it, Trini. Slytherin team is the same way before a big match. How about we talk about tutoring after Potions tomorrow? ...At lunch?” She smiled at Trini hopefully and Trini felt a familiar swooping sensation in her chest at the look on her face.

“Of course, Kim.” Trini smiled. “That sounds great.” They got up from their seats and walked to the entrance of the Great Hall together, both slowing down unconsciously as they neared the large bronze doors. Trini was reluctant to say goodbye, but she could feel the stares of the Ravenclaw team (mostly Stella) on the back of her neck. “So...uh...I’ll see you tomorrow, Kim,” she said.

“See you tomorrow, Trini,” Kim replied, a strange gleam in her eye. She brushed her fingertips along Trini’s forearm lightly and took a step closer to the shorter girl, who found her feet rooted in place. Trini felt like she couldn’t move even if she wanted to (and she definitely didn’t want to). “Thanks again for agreeing to tutor me. I really appreciate it,” Kim said softly, and Trini found herself leaning in to hear her better. Trini just nodded, feeling heat rush to that spot on her arm where Kim’s fingers were. She was afraid her voice would be nothing but a squeak if she tried to talk at that moment. Kim slowly trailed her fingers down Trini’s arm until she reached her hand, giving it a light squeeze. Trini felt like she could melt into a puddle - did Kim even know what she was doing to her?

Trini blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog from her mind, but it was like Kim was casting a spell on her. Almost without realizing it, she found herself leaning towards the taller girl, who looked at her questioningly for a split second before her face broke into a wide smile. Suddenly, Trini found her hand empty. She immediately missed the heat of Kim’s hand in hers. “Good night!” Kim said chirpily before turning and sashaying gracefully out of the Great Hall, leaving Trini dazed behind her, rubbing her tingling fingertips together.

What the hell just happened? Trini probably would have stood there for a while, trying to figure it out, but she jumped when a loud (and decidedly angry-sounding) call from Stella reached her ears. “Team meeting in 10 SECONDS, Trini!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guuuuys. So I know it's been FOREVER! I hope you haven't forgotten this story in the meantime. 
> 
> I always mean to update fairly regularly, but guess what happened? LIFE. Life happened, and I seriously just haven't had much time to work on fun things like this. Add on to that a healthy dose of writer's block and you've got yourself a three-week hiatus.
> 
> Anyway, I'm back on it now and things are moving along with the story....Kim is an interesting character. One minute she's completely flustered and the next, she's flirting like a pro! If she didn't already have Trini under her spell, she certainly does now. 
> 
> I'm thinking of writing this story from Kim's POV next. It'd be interesting to know what she's thinking. 
> 
> Anyway, I appreciate you all for sticking with this story! Please let me know what you think about it all! I absolutely live for your comments and feedback. Love ya


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Trini entered the Charms classroom to find Zack, Jason, and Billy waiting for her at their regular table.

“Heyyy Crazy Girl,” Zack drawled in a sing-songy voice as soon as he saw her, a shit-eating grin on his face. He and Jason watched her walk towards them with sly grins on their faces while Billy simply smiled and waved at her.

Trini slowed her walk, casting suspicious glances at the two Gryffindor boys. “... Hey guys,” she said, then proceeded to ignore them both as she settled in, determined not to give them the satisfaction of allowing them to tease her about Kim, which was really the only reason she could imagine they were looking at her like that.

Jason didn't let that deter him. “Haven’t seen you since yesterday morning, Trini. Did anything... interesting happen in the meantime?” He and Zack leaned towards her and rested their chins on their hands in unison, so in sync that it was almost creepy.

Trini stared. “You guys spend _way_ too much time together,” she said, turning to her Charms textbook and trying to hide the blush rising in her cheeks as Zack’s question brought her mind to how Kim had run her fingers down her forearm the night before...not that it was far from her mind in the first place.

“Aww, c’mon, Crazy,” Zack pouted for a moment before his grin was back in full force. “A little bluebird told us that you and a certain Slytherin were seen holding hands last night in the Great Hall. Care to elaborate?”

Trini gasped in mock outrage. “Billy, you gossip!”

Billy looked at her in surprise and mild panic. “Was that a secret? Sorry Trini!”

Trini smiled at him. “I'm just messing with you, Billy. It's okay.”

Billy sighed in relief. “Whew! Good. That's good.”

Zack tapped her lightly on the forehead with impatience. “Come onnn, T. This is A HUGE development! How'd it happen, what was it like?”

“I'll tell you what it was like,” Trini said, allowing a dreamy look to come over her face and staring off into the distance with a soft smile. Zack and Jason leaned in even farther with anticipation.

After a few moments of silence, Jason whined, “Come on, Trini. We're dying here. It was like…” he prompted.

“It was like…” Trini repeated after him slowly before giving them a lovelorn sigh. Then she smiled wickedly. “It was like nunya.”

Zack _tsk_ ed at her. “T, why you always gotta ruin the moment?”

Trini snickered, before taking pity on the two of them. “I'll tell you guys later, alright? Class is about to start.”

And so it was. Not two seconds later, Professor Flitwick cleared his throat squeakily from the front of the classroom and began lecturing. Trini smirked at Zack and Jason’s groans of frustration.

……...........

As soon as class ended, Trini found herself rushing from Charms to Potions, barely even stopping to say goodbye to Zack and Jason as they left the classroom. It only made Zack laugh and call out to her as she hurried away. “Good luck, Lover Girl!” He and Jason made kissy noises as they headed off in the opposite direction as Trini and Billy.

Trini ignored them, except to aim a single finger at them in a gesture that left Billy scandalized. “Sorry Billy,” she apologized.

“That’s okay, Trini. They deserved it for teasing you.” Trini smiled gratefully at the boy. “You do seem to be in a bit of a hurry, though. More than you usually are to get to Potions. Which, admittedly, you usually always rush to Potions, seeing as it’s your favorite class. I’m sure Zack would call that nerdy, but I think it’s admirable that you’re so excited to learn.”

‘I don’t - I’m not _always_  in a rush to get to Potions,” Trini said, forcing herself to slow her pace. She paused. “...Is it that obvious?”

Billy smiled. “Maybe it’s only obvious to me because I tend to pay more attention than people usually do. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Trini.” Trini nodded, her thoughts turning once more to Potions. She barely noticed her pace quicken.

When she entered the room, her eyes immediately wandered to her usual table at the back of the class and she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face when she saw Kimberly sitting there already, eyebrows knitted in concentration as she fiddled with a bowl on the desktop. Trini nodded to Billy as they separated at the front of the classroom and she continued on towards where Kim sat.

“Hey Kim,” Trini said as she walked up.

Kim looked up and grinned, holding up the bowl in her hands. “Look Trini! I’m soaking the Flufflegus seeds like you said.”

 _Good god, how is it possible for one person to be so adorable?_ Trini thought to herself, butterflies fluttering at the proud look on Kim’s face. “Nice one, Kim,” she smiled as she took her seat. “We’ve got this potion in the bag.”

Kim beamed at her and reached out to briefly to gently squeeze Trini’s arm. Trini felt a tingling sensation in her sternum at the action and found herself completely lost for words. Thankfully, Kim didn’t seem to expect her to say anything more. She released her arm and turned away to inspect their cauldron. Trini took the opportunity to control her rapidly beating heart. Was arm-touching going to be a thing Kimberly did from now on? Because Trini wasn't quite sure she could make it through much more of those touches without spontaneously combusting.

At that moment, Professor Slughorn began lecturing, allowing Trini a moment to breathe. They needed to start making a potion _stat_ so Trini could have something to keep herself busy and stop herself from overanalyzing every single move Kimberly made. Fate, or perhaps Professor Slughorn, was on her side in this case, because he only talked for about 5 minutes before releasing them to work on their potions. Trini and Kim set to work, preparing their ingredients and sending shy glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Trini allowed herself a small grin the third time she caught Kim casting a sneaky glance her way...maybe this crush wasn’t so one-sided after all.

 _No, don’t think that way, T. There’s plenty of explanations for Kim looking at me,_ Trini thought to herself. She wasn’t about to get her hopes up about this whole Kim-possibly-liking-her-back thing only to get shot down later. Even if Zack told her she might have a chance.

Speaking of things Zack said - Trini was busying herself with slicing up some mandrake roots when she sensed a presence on her left side. “Hi Trini,” a breathy, slightly shaky voice sounded. Trini and Kim both looked up to see Sophie from Slytherin standing just a little too close to Trini to be accidental.

“Oh, hey Sophie,” Trini smiled casually at the girl. “What’s up?”

Sophie bit her lip and twirled her long, blonde hair around her fingers. “I was hoping I could borrow your silver knife?” She laughed breathily. “I seem to have misplaced mine.”

Trini raised an eyebrow at the request, wondering why Sophie didn’t just ask her Potions partner for his knife, but reached for her tool kit anyway. “Sure, Sophie,” she said. She dug around a little before producing her silver knife and handing it to the blonde girl hilt-first. “Here you go,” she said, smiling.

Sophie grinned at her and took the knife, letting her fingers slide smoothly against Trini’s outstretched hand as she did so. With her other hand, Sophie let her fingers run lightly from Trini’s shoulder down her upper arm. _Okay, what is it with all the arm-touching?_ Trini wondered. Then it suddenly hit her. She remembered what Zack had said to her the other day about how Sophie (and others) had been flirting with her this school year. _Oh,_ she thought. Was that what was happening here?

"Thanks," Sophie said, lingering just a tad bit too long at Trini's side. 

“Uh, yeah. Anytime,” Trini said, feeling slightly flustered. She watched as Sophie walked back towards her desk, frowning in confusion for a moment before deciding she needed to move along with this potion if she wanted to get out of class anytime today. She filed Sophie’s behavior away for later review and continued cutting up her mandrake roots. She shot a look to her right where Kim was sitting and was very surprised to see the girl glaring daggers at her house-mate’s back and paying alarmingly little attention to the Shruffleshrooms she was dicing.

Trini watched the other girl for a moment before deciding the other girl’s knife was getting a _little_ too close to her fingertips to be comfortable. Trini reached out to touch Kim’s hand gently and the other girl jumped slightly, seemingly pulled out of some distracting (and violent, if the vigor with which Kim was dicing her shrooms was any indication) thoughts. “Are you alright, Kim?” Trini asked, forehead stitched in concern.

“Uhhhh, yeah!” Kim said, a little too cheerily to be convincing. Trini stared at her. Kim laughed nervously, then aimed a bright smile at her and held up her plate of diced Shruffleshrooms. “Shrooms are ready!” she chirped.

Trini stared at her for a moment more, then grinned and held up her plate of sliced mandrake roots. “Well then, Hart. Let’s get to work.”

…………………………………………

“Gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!” Professor Slughorn crowed at the two of them, his face slightly obscured by the blue, shimmery fumes wafting up from the girls’ cauldron. “Yet another perfect potion from the two of you, you really do make a good team,” he chuckled heartily. “You know, Ms. Hart, you might just be a good addition to our lovely little Slug Club. Ms. Gomez here would probably appreciate your company.” Was Trini imagining it, or did Professor Slughorn just _wink_ at them? Well. First Zack and Jason, and now Professor Slughorn was trying to set her and Kim up. Trini felt her face redden at the thought. She mumbled her thanks to Professor Slughorn for his praises, looking at her potion, her tool kit, anything to avoid Kim’s gaze. Because Kim _was_ looking at her. She could see it in her peripheral vision - Kim was giving her that same look she had given her after the first potion they had successfully made, like she was some sort of magician. _Oh wait. I am a magician. In magic school. With other witches and wizards._

She chanced a glance at the girl beside her and - yup - Kim was giving her that look again. Trini swallowed hard, biting her lip to keep from smiling. It didn’t work. Kim smiled at her and before she knew it, Trini was grinning right back. “So, uh, lunch?” Trini asked as she stood up and shouldered her backpack. She felt a rush of nervousness run through her at the question.

With no reason, as it turned out, because Kim beamed at her. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “We had Quidditch practice this morning and I’m starving,” Kim said, rolling her eyes up to emphasize that last word. Trini giggled at the silly face Kim pulled.

“Is Ty working you guys pretty hard?” Trini asked. Ty, the Slytherin Seeker and team Captain, was notorious for pushing the Slytherin team really hard (some might say _too_ hard).

Kim scoffed. “You can say that again. I guess that’s what happens when your team Captain is a seventh-year and Slytherin hasn’t won the Quidditch Cup in three years. We’ve got that match against Hufflepuff in two weeks and we don’t want to let them beat us out again.”

Trini laughed lightly. “I know what you mean. Hufflepuff completely trashed us last year - we can’t let them get away with it again. Stella is the exact same way.”

Kim grinned at her as they entered the Great Hall….and then paused just inside the big bronze doors. They hadn’t talked about where exactly they were planning to sit for lunch - the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables sat opposite of each other in the Great Hall and Trini wasn’t quite sure where they should go. Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs were all quite casual about sitting at other houses’ tables, but Slytherins still tended to keep to themselves even though the stigma over the Slytherin house had gone away somewhat over the years.

Trini scanned the Great Hall, spotting her friends all sitting at the head of the Gryffindor table. Trini considered it. Kim was friends, or friend _ly_ at least, with her friends. Maybe she would be more comfortable sitting at another house’s table if she sat with a group of them. She looked around at Kim, who was eyeing the Gryffindor table as well. It seemed she was thinking the same thing. “So do you wanna -” Trini started, pointing at her friends.

“Yeah,” Kim said, nodding in relief. Trini grinned and the two of them made their way to where Billy, Zack, and Jason were sitting. They both ignored the strange looks they got from others as they made their way to their friends.

Zack caught sight of them first. His mouth dropped open and he nudged Jason, who grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at _Kim,_ oddly enough. Billy simply smiled and waved at them both, having beaten them to the hall after Potions.

“Sup losers? And Billy,” Trini grinned at them as she and Kim sat down (Kim sat a little closer than would be considered normal, and that _may_ have contributed to the wideness of Trini’s grin).

“Hiiiiii,” Zack and Jason drawled in matching sing-songy voices.

Trini glared at them. “Okay. Really, guys. That whole matchy-matchy thing you do? It’s creepy.”

“Seconded,” Kim said, making Trini grin.

“Alright, fine, Crazy Girl. Don’t get your robes in a twist,” Zack said. “How was Potions, you two crazy kids?”

“Great!” Kim exclaimed. She grinned at Trini, then gushed, “Trini’s a godsend, honestly. I never could have made that Thenegarian Thirst-Quencher without her.” Trini tried to control her blush and hide her pleased smile at Kim’s praises.

“Oh yeah,” Zack smiled wickedly. “A _thirst-_ quenching potion could really come in handy. You know, for those moments when you’re feeling, just, really really _thirsty,_ right Trin- ow!”

“Alright there, Zackie?” Trini asked innocently, as if she hadn’t just kicked his shin _hard_ under the table. She bit into her tuna sandwich, raising her eyebrow at the boy in an unspoken challenge that screamed _say another word and the next kick will be aimed even higher._

“Uh huh,” Zack groaned.

Kim glanced between the two of them, uncertain as to what had just transpired. She shrugged before saying, “Yeah, I guess so, Zack. Now that I think of it, it _would_ be really handy to have a bit of that potion before a Quidditch match.”

Now Billy was interested. “You make a good point, Kimberly,” he said thoughtfully. “That would keep us from getting dehydrated during a big match. Maybe we should bring it up to Stella, Trini.”

Trini gave him the thumbs up, mouth still full of tuna sandwich. Jason nodded, “Yeah that’s a great idea Kim! We’d have to check the rule books first. We’re not supposed to use performance-enhancing potions or spells, but I’m not sure a simple thirst-quenching potion would fall under that category.”

There was a sound of general agreement from the group and the conversation easily moved into other Quidditch topics. Trini stayed mostly silent while the others talked, chiming in here and there, but generally choosing to observe. She watched the way Kim seemed to fit into her little group of friends so easily, laughing along with Jason, joking back and forth with Zack, listening intently to Billy as he talked. She fit seamlessly, as if she had always been a part of their group.

And every once in a while, Kim would glance over at her and her ever-present smile would seem to grow even bigger, just for a moment. And then Zack would make a joke, or Billy would launch into an explanation of something or other and Kim’s attention would be pulled away so quickly Trini would think she had imagined it.

It wasn’t until lunch was almost over and Kim was looking at her watch and sighing, that Trini realized they had never actually talked about their plan for Potions tutoring. “I have to go, guys,” Kim said as their lunch hour drew to a close. “I have about ten minutes to book it to the Divination classroom. Professor Trelawney is _not_ friendly to tardy people.” She got up and swung her bookbag over her shoulder.

Without even thinking of what she was doing, Trini stood up too - then stood there awkwardly, trying to find something to say. “We, uh, we never talked about Potions,” Trini finally stuttered out. “Do you wanna meet up Saturday? Maybe in the library, where we can’t be distracted by food?”

Kim chuckled. “That sounds like a good idea,” she said. “Two o’clock?”

Trini smiled. “Works for me,” she said. “Bye Kim.”

“See you later, Trini,” Kim said softly. The two of them stood there for a moment, smiling shyly at each other until a series of coughs and cleared throats sounded behind them. Kim jumped, seemingly remembering that she only had a few minutes to run to class. “Uhhh, bye! Bye guys,” she called as she practically sprinted out of the Great Hall.

Trini watched her go, a slightly dopey smile on her face. She was brought back to earth by a sudden heavy weight on her shoulder. She looked around. Zack had rounded the table and was smiling at the Great Hall doors, much like Trini had just been. “Ahhhh, young love,” he sighed.

Trini rolled her eyes, shrugging his arm off her shoulder. “Alright, alright,” she said. “Enough teasing. It’s free period, what do you say we head down to the pitch?”

“Awwww yeah!” Zack crowed. Jason and Billy both made assenting noises and the four of them headed out to the grounds.

“You know,” Zack said as soon as they were on the grounds and clear from nearby listening ears, “judging from the way Kimmie was looking at you, T, I think you’ve got a real shot there. One might even say she has...Hart-eyes.” He laughed as if he had just made a clever joke.

Trini pushed him away halfheartedly. “First of all, that’s a terrible joke. And second of all...just, whatever,” she scoffed softly, refusing to let Zack get her hopes up.

Jason smiled as he walked beside them. “Don’t sell yourself short, Trini. I think Zack’s got a point.”

Trini shot him a look that was half disbelief, half hope. Billy chimed in. “She did seem to look at you quite often, Trini. More than the average amount of looks a person with purely platonic feelings would send someone.”

Trini gulped, letting the boys lead her towards the pitch as she considered their words. That tiny spark of hope she had felt in Potions class? Well, the flame was being fanned and Trini couldn’t stop it. She had fallen deep for Kimberly Hart and maybe, just maybe, Kim was falling for her too. One thing Trini knew for sure - she couldn’t wait for Saturday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there, you sexy things. Our story is moving along and it looks like Kim might have a case of the jellies (jealousy, for anyone who doesn't speak my language). For Sophie, I'm picturing Katie Cassidy a la Supernatural Season 3, which I am currently re-watching as we speak. 
> 
> I know I was thinking of doing a chapter from Kim's POV, and that might still work, but there are a few more things that I think should happen from Trini's view before we go there. 
> 
> Let me know if there are certain scenarios or situations you might like to see in this story! I'm always open to suggestions :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Quidditch time!

The day of the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor match seemed to draw closer more and more quickly as the week progressed. One moment, Trini was in the Thursday evening tactics meeting with the rest of the Ravenclaw team, listening intently as Stella explained their game plan for the umpteenth time - the next moment, it was Friday evening and Trini was eating dinner with Zack and Jason, who only seemed to grow more rambunctious as Saturday neared. Trini didn’t mind. It was their way of dealing with stress before a big match. She herself dealt with the nerves by becoming even more reticent than usual, so she liked to think that she and the two Gryffindor boys balanced out each other’s nervous energy.

Billy suddenly slid into the empty seat beside her, thoroughly engrossed in a thick, well-worn book that Trini was sure must have come from the Library, judging by its many dog-eared pages and the fact that it looked as if it had been put to about 50 years of hard use. “Did you know that after the Quidditch World Cup match of 1832, Thelonius Luddlewig of the Warwick Wailers was awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class for saving the opposing team’s Keeper from a wild hippogriff attack?” he said without preamble. “So far, he’s the only professional Quidditch player to have ever received the award. They said his actions spoke of ‘great magical aptitude, moral fiber, and sportsmanship’.” Billy looked up from his book and grinned excitedly at his friends. Trini smiled. Billy’s way of dealing with pre-match stress was to read as much as humanly possible and spout out random bits of information to his friends.

“What book is that?” Jason asked, peering closely at the faded cover as Billy held it up for him. “Quidditch Through the Ages? I didn’t know the Library had a copy! That’s my favorite book!” he grinned widely.

“I know,” Billy said. “You mentioned it the other day, so I thought I’d check to see if Madame Pince had it. Turns out she had it hidden in her office, which is probably why you never saw it in the Library….something about the book being retired and needing some rest and relaxation. I’m not entirely sure what she meant. Books are inanimate objects and therefore wouldn’t need to rest.” He frowned for a moment, then shrugged and continued reading without a further word.

Trini glanced across the table at Jason, who she noticed was slightly pink around the ears and had a pleased smile on as he buttered his dinner roll. Trini and Zack shared a knowing look. Zack opened his mouth, probably to tease Jason, but before he could speak, Kim slid into the empty seat on Trini’s other side. “Hi guys!” she said cheerily.

Jason and Zack shared a pleased look with each other before Zack wriggled his eyebrows at Trini (not subtly enough, Trini thought) and said, “K-Hart! What brings you over to our humble dinner table?”

Kim shrugged, and Trini thought she saw a slight blush rise in the other girl’s cheeks. Or did she just imagine that? “I just wanted to wish you all luck at the match tomorrow,” said Kim.

“Yeah?” Jason leaned forward in his seat as if he was about to tell a juicy secret. “Who are _you_ cheering for tomorrow, Kim?”

This time, there was no denying it. Kimberly definitely blushed. She glanced quickly at Trini before clearing her throat and saying, “Who am I cheering for? Who, me? I - pft - I am a completely third party observer with absolutely no personal interest in the matter,” she spluttered.

“Riiiiiiight,” Jason sniggered.

Kim stared at him for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a sudden barked command from Stella over at the Ravenclaw table. “Team! Bed!”

Trini and the rest of the Ravenclaw team obediently got up from their seats, abandoning whatever food they had on their plates. They had all learned by this point that whenever Stella said anything in that tone of voice, it was best to follow her commands without delay. “See you tomorrow, guys!” Billy said, waving jauntily before walking away.

Trini hesitated a moment longer. “Bye guys,” she said to Jason and Zack. She looked over at Kim to say goodnight, only to be distracted when she saw the other girl biting her bottom lip slightly and watching her.

Trini forgot what she was going to say. She opened her mouth, but the only sound that came out was a tiny squeak….Ignoring Zack’s guffaw at the undignified noise she had just made, she racked her brain. She was going to say something, what was it? Oh yeah. Bye.

“Bye Kim,” Trini said, her voice slightly hoarse from barely using it all day. “Thanks for coming over.”

Kim nodded at her, giving her that trademark grin of hers. “See you tomorrow, Trini,” she replied. She looked like she was going to say something more, but instead settled for a silent wave. Trini gave her a smile before turning to walk towards the rest of the Ravenclaw team, who was waiting for her at the entrance to the Great Hall. Trini made it about halfway down the length of the table before she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder and Kimberly’s voice in her ear.

“Between you and me, I’m cheering for Ravenclaw tomorrow,” Kim whispered, cupping her hand around Trini’s ear like she was playing a game of Telephone. Her lips brushed against Trini’s earlobe for a moment - just a millisecond, really - yet in that moment, Trini felt like she might have died and gone to heaven.

All too soon, the hand on her shoulder was gone and the only sound in her ears was the casual chatter of her fellow students and the brittle clinking of knives and forks on plates. The ghost of Kim’s lips near her ear, the feel of her breath, the sound of her whispered voice played over and over in Trini’s head until she realized that she probably looked like a damn idiot, standing dazedly in the middle of the Great Hall.

Trini chanced a glance back at Kim, who was just reaching her seat across from Zack and Jason. The Slytherin girl looked back at her, a gleam in her eye that Trini couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of, and smiled. Trini couldn’t help it. She smiled back.

That night, when Trini was alone and in bed, she replayed the sound of Kim’s voice in her ear and fell asleep smiling, feeling like there was no way she would lose tomorrow with Kim on her side.

………………………………………………

The next morning dawned cold and still. The Great Hall, usually fairly empty at nine a.m. on Saturdays, was bustling with activity and buzzing with the excited chatter of students eagerly awaiting the first Quidditch match of the season. The morning was bright and clear, and it looked to be a great day.

“Olivia, you have to eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need your strength, Liv. Look! Bacon! Mmmm, your favorite,” Wen wheedled, wafting a strip of bacon in front of Olivia’s nose.

“No, I - I think I’ll just stick with tea, thanks.” Olivia quietly sipped her tea, which she had been nursing for the past twenty minutes and which Trini was sure had long gone cold. The team had been trying to get Olivia to eat some breakfast in preparation for the match, but telling her she would need her strength only seemed to remind the poor girl of the unfortunate statistic Billy had chosen to share the night before, of how 70 percent of Beater attacks were aimed at Chasers.

“Give her a break, guys,” Trini said. She had stayed mostly quiet up to this point, as was her usual pre-match routine, but had decided to step in once she noticed that all the attention was making Olivia look a bit green.

“You’ll be alright, Liv,” Trini said simply. “You’ll feel better as soon as we get in the air.”

Trini’s words held true. The moment Madame Hooch blew the whistle to start the match and both teams were up in the air, Olivia looked much more at ease. She gave Trini a thumbs-up before intercepting a pass between two of the Gryffindor Chasers. Trini grinned, then flew up high in the air, scanning the field for the miniscule Golden Snitch.

Across the field, Zack was doing the same thing. Trini watched him out of the corner of her eye, prepared to chase him if he made any sudden movements.

“-aaand Ravenclaw’s Olivia Walker passes to Wen Reddinger! He swoops, he swerves and - SCORE! Ravenclaw wins the first ten points of the game! Gryffindor Keeper Michael Liu is _not_ happy about that,” a vaguely familiar voice echoed across the stadium. Trini looked at the announcer’s box - there, holding an ancient megaphone, was Tommy Oliver, a Hufflepuff who was a year above Trini and who was often seen helping out around the greenhouses where she worked as Professor Sprout’s aid. The dark-haired girl caught her look and winked at her as she flew past the box. Trini whipped her head around, slightly embarrassed that she had been caught looking at the announcer when she was supposed to be concentrating on winning this match.

Trini flew a lap around the pitch, high-fiving Olivia as they passed each other before going back to looking for the Snitch. “Having fun, Crazy Girl?” Zack sidled up to her.

“More fun than you’ll be having when we beat you,” Trini shot back, easily slipping into their usual banter.

Stella passed by, swinging hard at a passing Bludger that she aimed at one of the Gryffindor Chasers. “Trini! Stop fraternizing with the enemy!” she called.

“And the Ravenclaw Seeker gets a reprimand from her Captain for talking to the Gryffindor Seeker! Zack and Trini, you never see one without the other, even on the Quidditch pitch. Ouch! That was a nasty hit Charlie from Ravenclaw just took. He’s looking a little woozy out there.”

Trini looked over in concern at the other side of the field. Charlie had been hit square on his shoulder, the force of the Bludger causing him to spin wildly and drop the Quaffle. He quickly got back under control, but the jarring movement seemed to have made him a little dizzy. Below him, Eric Higgs of Gryffindor had taken control of the Quaffle and was sprinting towards Billy, who watched him with intense concentration.

“Higgs has the Quaffle - and he’s got a clear field ahead of him - only Billy Cranston of Ravenclaw can stop him now - HE SHOOTS! And he’s blocked! What an epic save from Billy Cranston!”

Eric had feinted towards the right, trying to trick Billy into leaving the left two goals open, but Billy had seen right through him and blocked the shot by spinning around and batting the Quaffle with the end of his broom, sending it clear across the field towards Wen, who snatched it up without a moment’s hesitation.

The crowd went wild, loud cheers and stomps sounding from a distinctly blue section of the stands. Trini grinned at Billy, who clapped his hands together in excitement.

“Ravenclaw in possession,” Tommy was saying, “Wen Reddinger passes to Olivia Walker, who passes to Charlie Painsley - and back to Walker who - hold on a minute - has the Gryffindor Seeker seen the Snitch?”

Trini shot a look to the other side of the field. Zack was diving down, one hand outstretched, with a look of intense concentration on his face. With a great rush of excitement, she angled her broom downward, gritting her teeth as she tried to catch up to Zack. She pulled in beside him- the two of them neck and neck - and searched wildly in front of her for the speck of gold Zack was after. But wait - where was it? Trini didn’t see anything.

Out of the corner of her eye, Trini saw Zack pull up beside her and felt a moment of panic, thinking he had already caught the Snitch - but then it dawned on her. The Snitch wasn’t here. Zack was trying to feint her! Trini’s heart raced - she was barrelling recklessly toward the ground, faster than even gravity’s pull. At the last second, she pulled up on the nose of her broom so hard she was almost afraid she would break her broom in half. She gritted her teeth...and breathed a sigh of relief when she levelled off safely. She had avoided a collision with the ground. Barely.

Beyond the sound of her heart hammering wildly in her ears, she could hear the roar of the crowd and Tommy Oliver’s voice yelling excitedly. “Zack Taylor just tried to pull the Wronski Feint on Trini Gomez of Ravenclaw, but it didn’t work! Hah! You’ll have to get up earlier than that to get one over the one, the only, Trini the Tiny Tempest!”

Trini rolled her eyes at the nickname. It had been buzzing around school ever since she had joined the Ravenclaw team - she was pretty sure Zack had gotten people to start calling her that just to annoy her.

Speaking of annoyances. Trini flew back up into the air to where Zack was casually sitting atop his broom, grinning smugly at her. “You really thought that would work on me, Pretty Boy?” she called.

Zack laughed and ran a hand through his windswept hair. “Had to try, T!” he called back. “You trying to tell me you weren’t just itching to try that out in a real match?” Trini grinned, unable to stay mad through the rush of endorphins she was feeling at that moment.

“I’ll get you next time, Pretty Bo-” Trini was interrupted.

“Trini! Zack! Enough with the chit-chatting! We’re in the middle of a match, or have you forgotten?” Jason flew past them, beating a Bludger furiously towards Scott, who in turn was aiming the other Bludger at Eric Higgs. His reprimand was softened somewhat by his giddy smile. “That was awesome, though,” he added quickly before zooming off to rejoin the match.

Zack laughed. “See you on the flip-side, Crazy Girl!” he called as he flew higher in the air to circle the pitch. Trini did the same, circling the pitch in the opposite direction.

“Gryffindor in possession - Adrianna with the Quaffle - she passes to Higgs - who passes to Murphy - who - ouch! - gets hit square in the face by a well-aimed Bludger from Ravenclaw’s Stella Kiyoko. That looked like it hurt…Aaaand Walker catches the Quaffle - passes to Langley - who passes to Reddinger - who scores again! Ravenclaw is now up twenty-nothing!”

The game continued on, Ravenclaw just barely keeping their lead as Gryffindor came back with a few well-placed goals that they managed to get past Billy. Pretty soon, the score was sixty-fifty to Ravenclaw, and Trini was getting antsy. Where was the Snitch? Stella had made sure their team was well in-shape, but Trini knew the others must be getting tired at this point. She needed to end this match, and soon.

She peered around the field, keeping a close eye on Zack, who’s head was swiveling this way and that. She could tell Zack was getting restless too. In most games, one of them would have seen the Snitch by now.

Trini scanned the field - there! She spotted it - a speck of gold zipping around near the bottom of the Gryffindor goal posts. The only problem? Trini was clear on the other side of the field - the Snitch was way closer to Zack than it was to her. She saw Zack turn his head - any second now, he would see it. She had to do something.

She ignored her instincts to chase after the Snitch and did the only thing that made sense to her in that moment - she turned around and zoomed towards the other end of the pitch - away from Zack and away from the Snitch.

“What’s this? Ravenclaw’s Trini Gomez is putting on some speed - she’s seen something! Zack Taylor is hot on her heels, but she’s got a massive headstart!”

“Come onnnn,” Trini gritted her teeth. She tempered her speed just enough so that Zack would catch up to her, but not enough that he would realize something was up. She just hoped it was working. Sure enough, she soon heard a ruffle of robes beside her and saw a flash of red in her peripheral. Hah! He had taken the bait.

Trini reached out her hand, grinning to herself when she saw Zack doing the same. Now was the time. She quickly pulled her hand back and angled her broom, zipping around the Ravenclaw goalposts like a slingshot, laughing when she heard Zack’s surprised yelp from behind her.

“What’s going on? Gomez has completely changed her path and is now flying clear over to the other side of the pitch! She’s completely left Taylor behind in the dust. She’s reaching out - she’s got it! Trini Gomez has caught the Snitch and RAVENCLAW HAS WON THE MATCH!”

Trini grinned widely, feeling the small golden ball struggle in her grasp. She pulled up, only to be engulfed in a clash of arms and broomsticks as her team swallowed her into a large group hug. Trini could barely hear the roar of the crowd over the sound of her teammate’s own cheers and laughter.

Trini heard Zack call to her in the melee. “You tricked me, Crazy Girl!” he shouted, but the wide grin on his face told her he wasn’t mad about it.

“What’d I tell you?” she called back. “You owe me a butterbeer, Pretty Boy!”

Wen whooped wildly as both teams descended to the ground. A crowd of their cheering housemates flooded out of the stadiums to meet them on the field. “Party in the common room tonight!” Wen cried, to a loud approving uproar.

Trini could barely control the grin on her face. A party in the common room actually sounded pretty great. But first, there was something she was looking forward to even more.

………………………………….

At two p.m. exactly, Trini walked into the Library, somehow feeling even more nervous than she had that morning before the match. She’d had just enough time to shower and eat a celebratory lunch with her teammates before leaving them to grab her Potions book from the Ravenclaw Tower.

People called out to her in the halls, congratulating her on a match well-played. A first-year (who, Trini noted in slight disgruntlement, was _still_ taller than her despite being four years her junior) even came up to her and asked her for her autograph. Thankfully there was no one else around to witness that scene. Trini signed the piece of parchment quickly, her handwriting almost illegible because she was so eager to get out of there. She practically ran the rest of the way to the Library, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the large reading room where she had agreed to meet Kim was empty. Well, almost empty.

Trini smiled softly as she caught sight of Kimberly, who was seated at one of the large reading tables, frowning slightly in concentration at the thick Potions book she was reading. Trini smoothed her hands against her jeans nervously, took a deep breath, and walked towards the other girl.

“Hey Kim,” she smiled.

Kim looked up immediately at the sound of her voice, grinning widely at the smaller girl. “Trini!” she cried, reaching out to squeeze Trini’s hand. “You were so amazing at the match!”

Trini’s mouth dropped open for a moment before she caught herself and grinned sheepishly, feeling her face heat up with a deep blush. The other girl had dropped Trini’s hand as suddenly as she had grabbed it, but Trini’s hand tingled where Kim’s fingers had just been.

“Th- thanks Kim,” Trini managed to stammer out.

“That move you pulled against Zack - I’ve never seen anyone change course so quickly outside of a professional Quidditch match!” Kim gushed, gesturing excitedly with her hands. “And pulling out of that Wronski Feint so quickly! I swear, I almost pulled my hair out, I was so worried about you.”

Trini didn’t think it was possible, but she managed to blush an even deeper red. “You - you were worried about me?” she said softly in wonder.

Kim blushed too. “Well - I - yeah! Of course. You’re my friend, and friends worry when they see each other flying towards the ground at sixty miles an hour.” She chuckled and ran her hand through her short hair nervously.

Trini felt a sudden rush of bravery. “Well, if we’re such good friends, you should come to the party we’re having in the Ravenclaw common room tonight,” she said without thinking. She froze as soon as she said it and watched in slight trepidation as Kim’s expression morphed from shock to pure excitement.

The Slytherin smiled widely. “Yeah?” she asked. Trini nodded, and Kim jumped up and down slightly in her seat, nodding excitedly. “Okay!”

“Okay?” Trini repeated in shock. “I mean. Okay.” She nodded, unable to keep the giddy grin off her face. The two girls simply stared at each other, smiling, for a few seconds before a coughing fit from Madame Pince jolted them out of their little moment.

Trini cleared her throat. She pointed at the Potions book that lay open on Kim’s side of the desk. “Shall we get started?” she asked.

………………………………………

Hours later, Trini and Kim had successfully nailed down a study plan for the rest of the school year. In truth, they had completed their study plan in about an hour and had spent the rest of their time talking about everything from their favorite Quidditch teams to their favorite ice cream flavors. Trini was amazed at how easy talking to Kim was, once she got over her nerves.

Zack found them right when Trini was in the middle of telling the story of the time she had stood in line behind the front-man of the Wicked Sisters at Madame Malkins.

“- and then, after going through all that trouble just to find the _exact_ color of forest green he wanted, he took out his wand and ripped holes into his brand new robes - right in front of Madame Malkin!”

Kim was laughing so hard, she had to wipe tears from her eyes. Trini continued, “I’ve never seen anyone so mad - I thought she was going to burst a blood vesse-”

“Crazy Girl!” Zack’s voice boomed from behind her.

“Shhhhh!”

“Oops. Sorry Madame Pince,” Zack whispered. He tiptoed dramatically to where Kim and Trini sat, watching him. “Crazy Girl!” Zack whisper-shouted as he neared them. “Kimmy,” he mock-bowed in Kimberly’s direction.

Kim knitted her brows in confusion at the odd gesture. “Zack,” she said. “You are...so strange.”

Zack grinned at her like she had just given him a high compliment. “That’s exactly what Trini says about me! It’s like you two were meant to be,” he winked at them. Trini glared at him.

“Was there something you wanted, other than to be a massive pain in the ass?” she asked pointedly.

Zack grinned. “Me, Jason, and Billy are going to sneak over to Hogsmeade to get some supplies for tonight. Any requests?”

“Butterbeer,” Trini said without hesitation. She turned to the girl beside her. “Kim? What about you? Do you want anything from Hogsmeade?”

But Kim was looking at Zack in wonder. “You know how to get to Hogsmeade? How?”

Zack winked at her. “A magician never reveals his secrets,” he said, smirking.

Trini scoffed at him. “Please,” she said. “You wouldn’t know how to get there if it wasn’t for me.”

Kim was now looking at _her_ in wonder. “Wait - _you_ know how to get to Hogsmeade?!” she gaped.

Trini grinned. “Ask nicely and I’ll show you, Princess.” And - whoa - where did _that_ nickname come from? Trini hadn’t meant to say it, but by some miracle, Kim didn’t seem to mind. If anything, her answering grin came with a hint of a pleased blush.

Kim leaned towards the smaller girl, giving her a pout that should be illegal, Trini thought. “Please, Trini? Will you show me?”

Trini's breath caught and she gulped. What were they even talking about?

“Um...yeah,” she breathed. The fog in her mind didn’t clear until Kim leaned away from her, looking extremely pleased with herself.

The two girls continued to look at each other - Trini in slight shock and Kim with a smug smirk on her face - until Zack interjected his own face into their lines of sight. “Yeah, if we’re leaving we have to leave, like, five minutes ago. Let’s go!”

The next thing Trini knew, Kim’s warm hand was in hers and she was being tugged out of her chair. The two of them let Zack lead them out of the Library, both of them with wide grins on their faces. Now this - Kimberly holding her hand and leading her away? This was something Trini could get used to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! Trini and Kim are getting closer. Ravenclaw is having a party. Zack knows where to get butterbeer. What could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Hey guys. I just want to thank you for sticking with this story - I know I'm super inconsistent with posting things, but this story is such a fun way to escape all my stresses and deadlines and whatnot, so I appreciate you staying with me. I really love all your kind comments. I know I don't always reply, but I read them all and they make me so happy! 
> 
> Luyyah,  
> Hellomoto


	10. Chapter 10

“Come on, Crazy Girl! Come on Kimmy!” Zack called to the two girls who trailed behind him. Trini rolled her eyes at Kim, who giggled. They were headed to the corridor by the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where the unassuming statue of the one-eyed witch stood, looking distinctly  _ not  _ like a place a secret underground tunnel to Honeydukes would be. At some point, Zack’s infectious excitement had overtaken all of them and they had started running. 

The three of them huffed and puffed as they finally reached the statue, where Billy and Jason were already waiting. “Finally!” Jason called upon seeing them. “Oh hey, Kim! You coming with?”

“Yeah!” Kim exclaimed. She scanned the corridor curiously, her eyes finally landing on the statue Billy was leaning against. “How exactly are we getting to Hogsmeade?” she asked.

Zack quickly checked that the coast was clear. There was nobody but them in the hallway. “Watch and learn, Hart,” he grinned excitedly at the girl before turning and tapping the witch’s hump, muttering “Dissendium”. With a loud grating noise, a small hatch opened up in the witch’s hump. Without another word, Zack clambered up onto the statue and dropped into it feet-first. He disappeared into the dark chute, whooping loudly. He was quickly followed by Jason, then Billy. 

Trini looked over at Kim, who stood gaping. “Well,” she said, smirking. “After you.”

Kim looked at her for a moment, wide-eyed, before a reckless grin took over her face and she followed Zack’s path, clambering up the statue and dropping into the chute without a second thought. “Hahaaaa!” her gleeful voice echoed as she dropped down the slide on the other side. 

Trini watched her go with a fond smile. After one last look to make sure she was alone in the corridor, she followed Kim’s path up the statue and dropped down into the chute, only stopping to mutter the charm to close the hatch before allowing herself to slide down to the bottom where her friends were waiting for her.

The slide led to a narrow corridor made of old brick and lit by magical Never-Ending blue-flamed torches that were placed along the walls at strategic intervals. Trini slid neatly to the bottom of the slide, where her four friends waited for her.

“Alright, Crazy Girl?” Zack grinned at her as he held out a hand to help Trini up. 

“Yeah,” she said distractedly, accepting his help before dusting herself off. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked distractedly.

Zack smirked. “Oh, I was just concerned you would have some trouble climbing into the chute without a leg up.” Trini glared dangerously at him, but he wasn’t deterred. “You know, cuz you’re so short,” he continued.

Trini rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, I get it, Pretty Boy. You know it’s not a very good joke if you have to explain it,” she said pointedly. 

“I know,” he said before shooting a wicked grin back at her. “I just wasn’t sure, you know. Thought it might’ve gone  _ over your head. _ ” He chortled and Trini groaned. 

She chuckled good-naturedly and shot a look at Kim, Billy, and Jason as if to say  _ Can you believe this guy?  _

“Whatever, Z,” she said. “I may be short, but I bet I can still beat you to Hogsmeade.”

Zack grinned at the challenge. “Not likely, hah!” He took off running. “Last one there has to kiss Mr. Filch!” he called, his gleeful voice bouncing off the stone walls of the corridor. Trini, Kim, Billy, and Jason all stood looking at each other for a moment - before all four of them took off after Zack, their laughter echoing behind them.

With all five of them running at full speed, they reached Hogsmeade in no time. They arrived at the end of the corridor at about the same time, collapsing into a heap on the floor, their breathless laughter filling the air around them. They stayed that way for a few moments, catching their breaths. Once they had recovered, Jason sat up, pointing up a set of dusty wooden stairs off to the side of the corridor. 

“Those stairs lead up to the basement of Honeydukes,” he told Kim, who looked up the stairs in curiosity. “We’ll have to be really careful not to get caught sneaking out of there. Luckily,” he grinned, “Billy and Trini are amazing at the Disillusionment Charm.”

Billy grinned bashfully at the proud note in Jason’s voice before taking out his wand. “Come here, Jason. I’ll do you first.” Zack and Trini shot quick, stealthy looks at each other, grinning at the blush on Jason’s face at the innuendo. 

Trini took out her wand as well, flicking it at Zack with little warning. “Hey!” he said as he slowly disappeared, his skin and clothes blending effortlessly into the background. Trini looked approvingly at her handiwork. If she hadn’t known Zack was there, she wouldn’t have been able to discern anything. As it was, she could just make out Zack’s outline, where a slight haziness differentiated him from the brick wall behind him. 

“Wow,” Kim poked the air where Zack had stood, earning a grunt from the boy. “Great casting, Trini!” she turned back to the smaller girl, who grinned at the compliment. “Ooh! Do me now!”

“Bossy,” Zack’s voice sounded from somewhere to Trini’s right. “But I bet Trini likes that, right T?” Trini’s elbow shot out and she smiled in satisfaction when she felt it connect and heard a grunt of pain from the boy. She did her best to avoid eye contact with the other girl after  _ that  _ particular comment, but she noted with interest the slight smile playing on Kim’s face before the Slytherin girl disappeared into thin air.

Once they had all been successfully Disillusioned, Jason’s voice sounded from somewhere to Trini’s left. “Okay guys. Here’s the plan. The trapdoor at the top of the stairs leads to the basement of Honeydukes. I’ll go up first and make sure the coast is clear. We’ll meet up in the alley beside Honeydukes, where Trini and Billy can Re-illusion us. Kim, there’s a hidden doorway that leads to the alley from the basement. Since it’s your first time, you should stick close to one of us so you don’t get lost -”

“Trini volunteers!” Zack’s voice interrupted.

“Zack!” Trini hissed. While she appreciated Jason and Zack’s continued wingman-ship, she really thought they both needed to work on their subtlety. She paused for a moment. “I do volunteer, though,” she added quietly. 

“Ok, then,” Jason continued with a hint of amusement. “Everybody got the plan?” There was a general murmur of agreement. “Alright, let’s go!” He began climbing the wooden stairs to Honeydukes, the creaking of the floorboards the only sign he was even there. 

Trini listened as two more sets of feet climbed up the stairs, signifying that Billy and Zack were on their way. “Kim?” she called softly, eyes fruitlessly searching the corridor around her.

“Right here, Trini,” Kim’s voice sounded on her left. Trini felt searching fingers connect with her temple.

“That’s my head,” she laughed lightly. She reached up and found Kim’s hand, hooking two of her fingers with Kim’s. “Is this alright?” she asked. “I don’t want to lose you,” she said.

“This is great!” Kim said enthusiastically. “I mean - this is good. Yup.”

Trini smiled, grateful that Kim couldn’t witness the red blush she was sure was painting her face at that moment. “Well Princess,” she said, tugging lightly on Kim’s hand and silently revelling in the fact that Kim was there, with her, and they were currently holding hands.  _ This is the best day ever,  _ Trini thought giddily. “Follow me.”

Up the stairs they went, sneaking through the trapdoor that Jason held open for them. “We’re in,” Trini whispered stealthily as they passed. She heard slightly muffled clamoring and footsteps from up above - Honeydukes sounded busy, as always. She gently pulled Kim along, bypassing the stairs up to the main store in favor of the small wooden door that stood hidden behind several stacked crates full to bursting with Fizzing Whizbees. 

Before they even got halfway across the room, a loud bang echoed from somewhere above them. “More Blood Pops coming right up!” a gruff voice sounded from the stairs above them. Trini heard Kim gasp from somewhere to her left and felt a chill run down her spine. She tightened her grip on Kim’s hand and pulled her under the stairs.

“Shhhh,” she breathed. She heard Kim gasp again, softer this time. If she wasn’t so busy concentrating on the footsteps now sounding on the stairs above them, she might have dwelled on that particular sound....as it was, Trini needed all her concentration to keep her breathing under control - Kim was standing really  _ really  _ close to her.

Trini tried to focus on something - anything - other than the fact that she could feel Kim’s breath just grazing her cheek slightly. She watched as an old man wearing Honeydukes robes clomped down the stairs, humming softly. “Blood Pops...Blood Pops. Hmmmm, where would - ah!”

Trini held her breath as the old man wandered over, stopping only a foot away from where she and Kim stood frozen. “Bloody Blood Pops. Can’t hardly find anything in this mess down here,” he mumbled gruffly. Trini felt Kim tighten her grip on her hand as the man turned and passed them once more. Trini eyed him as he made his way to the stairs and slowly clambered his way back up to the shop.

She didn’t relax until she heard the door at the top of the stairs slam shut. “That was close,” Kim whispered in her ear. Trini let out the breath she had been holding - it sounded a little more shaky than she would have liked it to. 

“Come on, Princess. Let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up,” Trini said quickly, tugging on Kim’s hand. She led Kim through the little door and up the short flight of cobblestone steps behind it. They finally reached one last door, which Trini pushed open to reveal brisk, fresh air and bright sunshine. 

“Is that Crazy Girl and Kimmy? What took you so long?” Zack’s excited voice chimed out as soon as they pushed open the door. He and Billy sat, fully visible, on a couple of old crates in the narrow brick alley. Their eyes searched fruitlessly for the two girls until Trini took out her wand and spun a Re-illusionment Charm, aiming somewhere to her left where she knew Kim stood. The Slytherin girl slowly came back into view, shivering slightly in the brisk air. Trini then turned her wand to herself, trembling slightly as a tingling feeling travelled from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers. She observed her hand closely, smiling in satisfaction as the last vestiges of Disillusionment faded away. 

“Can you do me too, Trin?” Trini felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and reached out a hand in the general direction she’d heard Jason’s voice come from. Her hand connected with his chest and she quickly replaced it with her wand. A quick flick of her wand and Jason soon came into view, smirking at her. 

“Were you just -” Trini scowled at the boy in disbelief. “Were you just  _ flexing?”  _

“What?” Jason grinned boyishly at her. He shrugged nonchalantly. “I work out.”

Trini rolled her eyes. “Yeah, dumbass. We’re Quidditch players, literally all of us work out.”

“And it shows!” Zack chimed in. “Look at these guns!” He pulled up his shirt sleeve and flexed his arm irritatingly close to Trini’s face. 

She swatted his arm away. “We get it, Pretty Boy,” Trini sighed in a long-suffering way. “You’re hot.”

Zack grinned at her, throwing his arm over her shoulder. “And don’t you forget it.” 

“You know, if we’re going to make it back in time for the party, we should probably get moving,” Billy said, glancing at his watch. 

“Yeah, we should go,” Kim added quickly. Trini glanced over at the other girl, who sounded a little miffed. There was something in her voice...Trini peeled herself away from Zack and sidled up next to the other girl as the group sauntered off to the Hog’s Head for their drinks.

“Are you okay, Kim?” Trini asked, her forehead stitched in concern. 

“Huh? Yeah! Totally!” Kim replied a little too quickly. She saw the unconvinced look on Trini’s face. “I’m just...cold. I’m cold. It’s a little windy out here today.”

“Oh,” Trini smiled. “I can fix that.” She took off her yellow bomber jacket and offered it to the other girl. “Here, take this.”

Kim’s eyes widened almost comically. “What? No, I - I can’t -”

“Don’t be silly, Kim,” Trini chuckled. “You’re shivering like crazy. Besides, I run hot anyway.”

Kim looked like she was going to protest but a gust of wind overtook them, causing her to shiver even harder. She accepted the jacket with a grateful smile. It was a little small on her, but Trini couldn’t deny that the other girl looked good. Damn good. The two of them stood in silence for a short moment, smiling shyly at each other before -

“Oi! Tiny! Kimmy! You coming or what?” Trini and Kim both jumped, and hurried along the road to the Hog’s Head pub, where Zack’s head peeked out from the other side of the door. He held the door open for the two of them, allowing Kim to squeeze past him first. His face lit up with glee as soon he saw Trini’s yellow bomber jacket on the taller girl’s shoulders. 

“Ooooh, T, you got some GOOD game!” he whispered excitedly as Trini passed.

“Be. Cool.” She shot a warning look at her best friend, but it’s effectiveness was somewhat diminished by the wide smile she couldn’t seem to keep off her face. They shared giddy smiles for a moment, before Trini took a deep breath and gathered herself, walking over to the bar where Jason was haggling with the bartender. 

Kim smiled at her as she neared. “I’ve never been here before,” she whispered to Trini as Zack joined in on the haggling (“Come on, Aberforth - you’re telling me you’re not going to give  _ us _ , your most loyal customers, a discount?”). Kim looked around the room, taking in the witch at the bar who was downing a much-too-large glass of firewhisky and the pasty-looking fellow in the dark corner who was drinking a tall glass of something dark red that Trini didn’t think was tomato juice. Kim crossed her arms, pulling Trini’s jacket closer around herself as she did so. “It’s kind of…”

“Seedy?” Trini supplied. Kim smiled nervously and nodded. “I agree,” Trini said. “But the bartender never asks questions when we come here looking for drinks - even though I’m pretty sure he knows we’re Hogwarts students and we’re not technically supposed to be here on non-Hogsmeade weekends.”

“Oh yeah?” Kim asked. “So, uh...you come here often?” she wiggled her eyebrows jokingly and Trini giggled at the clichéd pick-up line.

“Hey girls,” Jason called out from the bar. “Help us out, will you?” He gestured to the stack of crates on the bartop. Trini and Kim walked over and inspected their contents. 

“Hmmm, butterbeer, firewhisky, and…” Trini raised an eyebrow, “Weasley’s Wipeouts?” 

Billy grinned at her. “Those were my idea - I’ve always wanted to try them!”

Trini exchanged a gleeful look with Zack. “Us too,” she said, smiling wickedly. 

……………..

They took their time walking back to the castle. Once they were back in the corridor by the one-eyed witch, Trini Disillusioned their crates and bewitched them to float in front of her. The others walked around her, spread out so no one would accidentally bump into the disguised contraband. As it turned out, there was no need for all the secrecy - the only person they met on the way to Ravenclaw tower was the Bloody Baron, who simply gave them a disinterested look and disappeared into a nearby wall. 

The party was in full swing when they finally got to the common room. A loud wave of music, talk, and laughter hit them as soon as they opened the door. “Party’s here, people! We bring gifts!”

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as Trini Re-Illusioned the crates of drinks they had brought with them. “Thank you, thank you!” Jason called. “Don’t forget to show your appreciation with a generous contribution to the Gryffindor party fund!” He conjured a large bowl and set it on the table, eyeing anyone who took a drink without dropping at least a Sickle into it. 

“T, heads up!” Trini looked up just in time to catch a couple of butterbeers Zack had thrown her way. Thank goodness for her Seeker reflexes, else she would have dropped them. She grinned gratefully at her best friend before turning to Kim.

“Butterbeer? On me. Well, technically it’s on Zack because he owes me a butterbeer,” she smirked. 

Kim smiled at her and took the bottle. “Thanks, Trini.” She looked around the Ravenclaw common room in curiousity. “So, this is your place, huh? It’s nice.”

Trini glanced around the room, taking in the merrily crackling fireplace, the large eagle tapestry on the wall, and the giant window that took up an entire wall and overlooked the lake and grounds. “Yeah, it is nice, isn’t it? I love it here, especially the view.”

Kim hummed in agreement. Suddenly Zack appeared between them, draping an arm over each of their shoulders. He said to Kim, “You think this view’s nice, you should check out the one Trini has from her room. Very romantic.” He winked at Trini and was ran off just as suddenly as he had appeared. 

Trini stared at his retreating form and made a mental note to pummel him later. If the boy felt her glaring daggers at his back, he didn’t show it. “Umm,” she gulped before looking back at Kim. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just...I mean, unless you  _ want  _ to check it out. That could...be arranged.”  _ Ohmygod Trini stop talking right this second.  _ She felt her face redden with embarrassment and took a giant swig from her butterbeer to give her mouth something to do other than sound like an idiot. 

Kim chuckled nervously, her face noticeably red too. “I - wait, you have your own room?” 

Trini looked at her in surprise. “Of course...don’t you?”

Kim shrugged. “I mean, I do  _ now _ because I’m a prefect...but I only got it this year, and everybody else shares a dorm.”

Trini raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Huh. Interesting. Well, to be fair, we all shared dorms from first through fourth year. But once we get into fifth year, we all get our own rooms. You know, so we can have our own quiet space to study for our OWLs and NEWTs. We Ravenclaws take our studying very seriously, of course,” she added with a self-deprecating eye roll.

“I can tell,” Kim smiled. “I mean, you’ve always been, like, the smartest person in our year,” she added. Trini looked at her, surprise evident in her face. A couple weeks ago, she didn’t even know that Kim even knew who she was, let alone that Kim took any notice of her prior to this year. Kim must have misinterpreted her surprised silence because she quickly backtracked. “Not that I’m keeping track or trying to compete against you - I just….oh look! They’re playing butterbeer pong! Let’s go join them!” 

Trini grinned at the not-so-subtle change of subject...and maybe the fact that Kim had grabbed her hand to pull her along to the table in the east corner where Zack and Jason had set up a butterbeer pong tournament and were currently challenging Wen and Stella to a loud and rowdy match. 

That evening turned out to be the most fun Trini had ever had at one of these post-match parties that Zack always insisted she participate in. She would usually get bored of the loud atmosphere and being around so many people for any period of time would generally tire her out. But this time was different, because this time Kim barely left her side all night. And if Trini never stopped smiling that night, well, that might’ve had something to do with it. 

“Never seen you smile so much, kid. Have anything to do with the special guest you brought with you tonight?” A voice sounded close to Trini’s ear. She looked to her right to see Tommy  Oliver grinning smugly at her. The dark-skinned girl flipped her long hair over her shoulder and nudged Trini’s shoulder.

“Tommy Oliver, as I live and breath,” Trini grinned, swaying slightly where she stood. “Haven’t talked to you much this year, how’ve you been? Still working at the greenhouses?”

“Yeah!” Tommy said excitedly. “It’s been keeping me busy this year. Professor Sprout gave me full responsibility of Greenhouse IV.”

“No way!” Trini said. She grabbed Tommy’s arm and squeezed in her excitement. “That’s so awesome, Tommy. Not to mention getting the Quidditch commentator job. Congratulations, by the way. Good for you.”

Tommy smiled, looking down at the floor humbly. “Thanks, T. I’m pretty happy about it.” Trini grinned at her. “But you’re deflecting from my question, Trin. What’s up with your new friend you’ve been hanging with the entire night? You two have been inseparable all night.”

“I - we haven’t been - we’re not - shut up,” Trini stammered, blushing. Tommy laughed. As if to prove her point, Kim arrived not a moment later carrying two bottles of butterbeer. 

“Trade you,” Kim said, gesturing at the empty bottle Trini held in her hand. Trini practically melted at Kim’s thoughtfulness. 

“Thanks,” Trini smiled softly at the taller girl as she took one of the bottles from Kim’s grasp and replaced it with her empty one.

Kim winked at her. “Be right back.”

Trini turned around, smiling. Only to see Tommy, Zack, Jason,  _ and  _ Billy standing behind her, grinning like complete fools. “Oh, come on,” Trini muttered. “You guys don’t have anything better to do than creep on me and Kim?”

“Aww, look at her defending her girlfriend,” Jason cooed. 

“She’s not my - you guys have no chill, I swear,” Trini sighed. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Tommy held up a hand. “You’re telling me that you and Kim  _ aren’t  _ dating? Because let me tell you, the way you and Kim have been acting? One hundred percent girlfriend behavior,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Right?!” Zack said. 

“You  _ guys.  _ I - wait - really? Wait, stop talking.”

“Hey guys!” Kim arrived, bouncing on her toes happily and linking her arm through Trini’s. “What are we talking about?”

“Uhhhhhhhhh…Hogsmeade!” Jason supplied. “What are your plans for our first Hogsmeade weekend, Kim?”

Kim thought for a moment. “I, um, I don’t actually have any plans for Hogsmeade.” She glanced over at Trini. “Like, none. At all.”

Entranced, Trini nodded along as Kim spoke. In truth, she was a little distracted by the fact that Kim was currently rubbing circles on the back of her hand. It wasn’t until Tommy subtly nudged Trini’s arm that Trini realized she should probably say something.  

“Huh? Oh. K-Kim, would you - with - me...or us?”  _ Oh that’s terrible. Good job, genius. _

Kim looked at her for a short moment, before a beautiful, slow smile overtook her face. She giggled. “Trini, what?”

“Wow. Trini. That was actually painful to watch.” Zack said, grimacing. 

“Oh stop, it was cute,” Kim scolded him, and Trini was pretty sure her heart stopped at that second. If she died and those were the last words she ever heard, she didn’t think she would have minded. 

“I think what Trini was trying to ask was - do you want to come to Hogsmeade with us next weekend?” Billy said.

“That’s - uh huh.” Trini said, nodding. It didn’t help the situation that at no point during this entire exchange did Kim stop rubbing circles on her hand. 

Kim smiled wider than she had ever seen before. “Okay! Yeah! I’d love to.” Trini found herself smiling just as widely back.

“Okaaay, now that we’ve got that settled. I think the party’s dying down and I’ve got an early morning at work tomorrow. I’m going to head back to my dorm,” Tommy said. 

“As much as I hate to say it - Tommy makes a good point,” Kim said. “It’s pretty late and, well, we’re the last ones here.”

Trini looked around at the party for what felt like the first time that night. Kim spoke the truth. They were the last ones here - or at least the last  _ conscious  _ ones - there were a few Gryffindors crashed out on the couch.

“You know, our dorms are in the same area,” Tommy said to Kim. “Wanna walk back together?”

“Good call,” Kim said. “Thanks for inviting me tonight, Trin. I had a lot of fun.”

“I had fun too. I’m glad you came,” Trini said. And there was that smile that never failed to take Trini’s breath away.

“Come on, kid,” Tommy said, tugging on Kim’s arm. “I have a feeling if I don’t pull you away now, you two are going to spend the rest of the night just standing there, staring at each other.”

“Not that that would be any different from how you’ve spent the night so far,” Zack fake-coughed. Both girls blushed a deep red and averted their eyes. 

Tommy pulled Kim out the door, but that didn’t stop the Slytherin girl from sending one last radiant smile at Trini. Trini sighed happily.  _ Today was a good day. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dudes! It's been a while. Hope you like it.


	11. Chapter 11

Trini didn’t wake up until almost noon the next morning. She rolled out of bed and stretched her arms above her head as she admired the view from her window. It was a beautiful day outside - a perfect day for some outdoor spell practice. She ran a brush through her hair, wondering what her friends were up to, and if she could convince Zack to practice the Geminio spell McGonagall had assigned them the previous week. 

Once she had satisfactorily rid herself of bedhead, she grabbed her beanie and backpack and ran down the stairs, thinking about where she should look for her friends. It was almost lunchtime - her best bet was the Great Hall. As she made her way there, her thoughts turned once more to Kimberly. In particular, how Kim had hung out with her all night at the party. How the two of them had completely wrecked Zack and Jason at butterbeer pong. How Kim smiled at her and rubbed soft circles on her hand. How radiant Kim looked in the soft glow of the light from the Ravenclaw fireplace. Trini felt her heart give a strange little squeeze as the image filled her mind….damn, she had it bad. 

“Hey Sleeping Beauty!” Trini heard a familiar voice shout behind her just as she was about to enter the Great Hall.

She whipped her head around to see Zack, Billy, Jason, and Tommy walking toward her, grinning widely. “Hey guys,” she waited for them by the entrance to the Great Hall and took in their collective windswept appearance. Her eyes lingered on Zack’s ruffled head and she smirked. Zack usually took so much pride in having perfectly styled hair, but at the moment he looked more like he had stuck his finger in a live electrical socket. “Nice hair, Zack,” she said sarcastically. “Were you guys just playing Quidditch or something?” she asked as the others joined her and they walked together towards some empty seats at the Gryffindor table.

“Nah, Slytherin team had the pitch booked this morning,” Tommy answered for the group as they sat and the boys immediately began filling their plates. “These guys were actually helping me transfer a bunch of Devil’s Snare from Greenhouse III to Greenhouse IV. They saw me struggling with one of the pots and offered to help me out.” 

“I was almost strangled by one of the Devil’s Snares, but Jason saved me,” Billy said, seemingly unaffected by his near-death experience. 

Trini smirked at Jason. “What a hero,” she winked at the Gryffindor boy as he blushed.

Zack nudged Trini, “Speaking of Slytherin team -”

“We weren’t really, but okay,” Trini interrupted. Zack just grinned at her and soldiered on.

“They looked like they were almost done with practice when we finished up at the greenhouse, your girl should be here soon.”

Trini immediately perked up and looked to the entrance of the Great Hall, as if Kim would walk in that very second. She flushed a deep red when she realized that her friends all saw her eager display. “She’s not my girl,” she mumbled, slouching down slightly in her seat. 

“Hah! Yeah right. That’s not what it looked like last night,” Jason said playfully. Trini shoved him and refused to make eye contact with any of them. She sneaked a glance at Tommy, feeling a small twitch of discomfort at the thought of the other girl hearing this conversation, but the Hufflepuff was too busy digging into a bowl of beef stew to notice.

“Can we not talk about this, please?” Trini asked. She started playing with Zack’s hair, trying to tame it and make it look less like he had let bowtruckles style him and more like its usual untidy, but coiffed, state. Zack let her do it, even leaning towards her a little bit to make it easier for her to reach. 

Zack, to his credit, recognized her anxiety-driven need to fidget and do something with her hands and softened his voice. “Look, we’re not trying to tease you, Crazy Girl,” he said. “We’re just saying you two looked awfully couple-y last night.”

“There  _ were  _ a few instances of hand-holding that I noticed,” Billy piped up. “But then again, I’ve noticed that girls who are friends tend to hold hands, even if they’re just platonic friends...I wonder why guys don’t do that. I know I don’t typically like people touching me, but I think I wouldn’t mind holding hands with you, Jason. Or even you, Zack.” 

Zack looked touched. Jason almost choked on his sandwich and his ears turned so red he looked like he had just swallowed a batch of Pepperup Potion. Billy was looking up at the ceiling in thought and didn’t notice either reaction. “But now that I’m really thinking about it, I can’t recall seeing Kim holding hands with any of her other girl friends. Maybe you’re special, Trini.”

Now it was Trini’s turn to blush. “I - well - it’s,” she stammered. “Maybe let’s not talk about this right here and now?” she finally said, hoping someone would finally change the subject. She shot another worried glance at Tommy, and this time Zack caught it. A look of understanding crossed over his face. 

“Oh, don’t worry, T,” he said. “Tommy’s cool. Right Tommy?”

The Hufflepuff stopped devouring her beef stew and looked up. “I’m cool. You and Kim would make a cute couple,” she answered with a wink, before diving back into her food. Trini couldn’t help it, she chuckled softly as she felt a growing bubble of happiness in her chest. Her friends were ridiculous. And accepting. And amazing. And she loved them more than she could possibly put into words.

“You guys are the worst,” she said, smiling so that they knew that she really meant the complete opposite. She finished fixing Zack’s hair with one last flourish, nodding in satisfaction at her work. 

The tall boy smiled at her as she finished and he was allowed to straighten up in his seat. He gave her a quick side hug and a kiss on the side of her forehead in thanks. She took the opportunity to steal a bite from his burrito. 

“Hey!” Zack laughed. “Get your own, Crazy Girl.”

“Kim’s here,” Jason said suddenly.

Trini immediately turned to see the other girl standing in the entrance, looking over at their little group. She had a bit of an odd expression on her face, but Trini couldn’t read it that well from a distance. Trini aimed a bright smile at her and waved, but the Slytherin girl just smiled weakly back. She waved...but apparently it was a wave goodbye, because the next thing Trini knew, Kim had turned and walked right back out of the Great Hall. 

Trini turned back to the group with a confused look. “Is she okay? She looked a little...”

“Off?” Jason finished her sentence. “Yeah, that was strange.” He aimed a worried look towards the entrance to the Great Hall as if he could somehow will Kim into reappearing.

“Maybe she forgot something,” Billy suggested, but even his eyebrows were stitched in concern. “She’ll probably come back when she finds it.”

But Kim didn’t come back. Trini (and the rest of the group, for that matter) kept glancing towards the doors as they collectively finished their lunches - or breakfast, in Trini’s case. But the other girl never returned, and Trini remained slightly concerned until Jason promised he would check up on her during their Prefect duties that afternoon. 

Trini spent the rest of her day under a large pine tree by the lake, alternating between doing spell practice with Billy, lounging on the grass in the sun with Zack, or joking around with Tommy and Jason. Halfway through the day, Tommy recused herself to go back to Greenhouse IV and Jason disappeared, citing Prefect duties. Trini and Billy finally convinced Zack to practice some spells with them and, by dinnertime, Trini was convinced the three of them had successfully mastered the Geminio spell. Billy and Trini had even moved on to practicing the Triplico spell.

“Ugh, guys,” Zack groaned. He was lying on the ground, holding his rumbling stomach. “It’s six o’clock and my stomach has been growling for an hour. If you’re done overachieving, can we  _ please  _ go to dinner now? You know it takes proper nutrition to look  _ this  _ good,” he grinned as he gestured to his body. 

Trini snorted. “Proper nutrition? Zack, you eat pancakes for breakfast everyday.”

Zack put on an affronted look. “Excuse you, I take my diet very seriously. Just last week I ate a vegetable.”

“Yeah, because a leaf from my salad accidentally fell onto your plate -”

“Hey guys, watch this!” Billy, satisfied with the progress he’d had Triplicating stones, had been largely ignoring their banter as he skipped the cloned stones across the lake. Trini and Zack watched as one stone skipped once, twice, three times before it was snatched out of the air mid-skip by a giant squid tentacle. Zack and Trini cheered and Billy clapped appreciatively. Billy skipped stone after stone until the giant squid seemed to tire of their strange game of catch and the last stone sunk into the water untouched.

Deciding that that was a pretty good end to the day, the three of them walked back to the school for dinner. As they entered the Great Hall, Zack was the first to spot Jason sitting at the head of the Gryffindor table with Scott McCall, his fellow Gryffindor Beater. Trini was too busy looking around the Great Hall for Kim to notice where Zack was steering her, but she looked around when Zack said “Hey, there’s Scott. He has a major crush on you, T. Asks about you all the time.”

“Wha -?” Trini said, shocked. Zack cut her off with a wink and a smirk as he pulled her into a seat next to Jason.

“Hi Trini,” Scott said. The poor boy ran his hand through his hair nervously, making it stick up at a slightly odd angle.

Trini smiled back. “Hi Scott.”

“You played really well in our match yesterday,” he said. 

Trini smiled warmly at him. “Thanks. You played well too, Scott.” She spied Zack and Jason exchanging knowing smirks from the corner of her eye, but ignored them. 

“So, listen, Trini. I was thinking…” Scott started, leaning forward in his seat. Trini felt a sudden sinking feeling in her chest and tried to will Scott to stop talking. Of course that didn’t work. “We should hang out more. In, like, a date-type of way.”  _ Oh dear god, this can’t be happening,  _ Trini thought in rising panic. “Do you have any plans for Hogsmeade next weekend?”

Trini shot a quick glance at Zack, but her supposed best friend was too busy sniggering behind his hand to be of any help. She regarded Scott. He really was a nice guy. Funny. Good looking, in a scruffy boyish way. She probably would have been into him if only she wasn’t a giant flaming homosexual. 

“I, uh, I  _ do  _ have plans, actually. And I’m kind of...into s-someone else,” Trini said, stuttering a little.  _ Please don’t ask who it is,  _ she thought nervously. “Sorry,” she added awkwardly. 

Luckily, Scott was probably one of the most easy-going people she knew. “Yeah, I figured someone like you would have something going on.” He smiled and shrugged. “Worth a try, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Trini said. He took it pretty well. That wasn’t so bad.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go cry now,” Scott said as he stood up. 

“What? Scott - “ Trini was horrified. But then Scott smiled.    
“Just joking, Trini,” he said. “I told Styles I’d help him practice Quidditch today.” 

“Oh...okay,” Trini breathed in relief. She watched as the boy waved goodbye at their group before sauntering out of the hall. As soon as he was out of earshot, she groaned and let her head fall onto the table. “That was embarrassing,” she mumbled. 

Zack rubbed circles into her back comfortingly, but there was amusement in his voice when he said “For who? You, or Scott?”

“Ugh,” Trini sat up and shot him a disgruntled look. “How about for both of us,” she rolled her eyes and shoved at Zack lightly. “If you knew he was into me, couldn’t you have warned him off, or something?” 

“Uhhh, what was I supposed to say?” Zack gave her a knowing look. “Sorry Scott. Trini would probably be into you, except for the fact that she’s a giant flaming homosexual. Maybe if you grew out your hair and had a higher pitched voice - oh, and if you had boobs, that would help -” 

“Zack!”

……………………………………….

The next day passed quickly for Trini, who barely had a second to spare with early-morning Quidditch practice, Divination, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration (Professor McGonagall was extremely pleased with Trini and Billy’s prowess at the Geminio and Triplico spells). Although Trini kept an eye out for Kim all day, the other girl was nowhere to be seen. 

So that might have factored into why Trini kept glancing at her watch all through Charms class that Tuesday. Zack and Jason teased her for it, but Trini found that she didn’t really mind. She knew she was being slightly ridiculous, but what could she say? She was excited to see Kim again.

She practically power-walked to the dungeons after Charms class, with Billy keeping up easily with his much longer legs. As soon as they entered the Potions dungeon, Trini spotted Kim sitting at their usual table in the back, reading her textbook while she fidgeted with her quill. Trini smiled widely and quickly bade Billy goodbye. “Hey Kim,” she breathed once she reached their table. 

The Slytherin girl looked up at the sound of her voice. “Hi Trini,” she smiled.

“How’ve you been?” Trini asked with concern. “In the Great Hall on Sunday, you seemed a little….well, I was just worried about you, that’s all.”

For a second, Kim stared at her with an unreadable expression, before her face softened into a smile. “Yeah. I’m okay, Trin,” she said. “Thanks for asking. I was just...it was just something silly and not important.”

Trini smiled back at her, relieved. With a thrill, she noted Kim’s little shortening of her name. Normally, if someone other than Zack or Jason tried to call her “Trin”, Trini would be having none of it. But it was Kim, so… Yeah, yeah. Trini realized it was cliche, but what could she do? She had a crush roughly the size of Jupiter, Kim could’ve nicknamed her Princess Snuffalufagus and she probably would have gone along with it. 

Trini realized that she had been smiling at Kimberly for longer than would be considered friendly, and averted her gaze to the front of the classroom, where Professor Slughorn was looking around at his students with gleeful abandon, his interlaced fingers resting atop his rotund belly.

“My students,” he crowed, “I think it is time….You are ready to brew the MOST dangerous potion you will ever come across!” He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. His booming voice had caught the attention of every student in the room, and silence fell across them like a blanket. Even Trini found herself leaning forward in her seat, waiting for Professor Slughorn to reveal this new and intriguing potion. What could it be? They had already made the Draught of Living Death, which Trini considered pretty dangerous...could it be something similar? 

She thought she saw Professor Slughorn smirk a little as he gazed around the deathly silent room. “Prepare yourselves, young men and women, for the most dreadful, most powerful, most wonderful power known to wizardkind. For today,” he droned, “we are making….” it felt like nobody in the room was even breathing as Professor Slughorn paused dramatically, “...the Love Potion.”

There was a period of shocked silence, then - “Oh, come on!” Charlie Painsley threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Really, Professor Slughorn? A Love Potion? I thought it was going to be something awesome, like a - an Explosion Potion or a potion for everlasting life, or something!” He finished his little rant with a bewildered expression that made half the people in the classroom laugh, including Professor Slughorn.

“My boy,” he chuckled, “you may not realize it yet, but you will - ohohoho, you  _ will  _ \- come to realize that Love is the most powerful thing there is.” There were a few jitters from the crowd, but Professor Slughorn continued, his voice getting gradually darker and darker. “For Love can make a person happy as can be. It can make them sing at the top of their lungs. It can make a person jump from the tallest building….It can break a person’s heart...make them weep...make them hurt...make them kill.” The room was once again deadly silent. “Love was the power that saved the Boy Who Lived...and it was the power that ultimately ended the Dark Lord….so don’t ever think that Love is a power to underestimate, my boy. You can never know to what lengths Love will make you go…”

The room was quiet. Barely a breath could be heard as Professor Slughorn slowly trailed off into the barest whisper. Rooms tended to become deathly still whenever Voldemort was mentioned - even more so at Hogwarts, where everyone was acutely aware of the bloody battle that had occurred there not too long ago. For a moment, Trini thought Slughorn was about to launch into another one of his stories. Then, suddenly, he slapped both his hands on his desk with a bang and everybody in the room jumped. With a laugh, Professor Slughorn waved his wand, and the cupboards in the back of the room flew open with a crash and written instructions appeared on the chalkboard. “Well!” he roared gleefully, “Off you go!”

Trini looked over at Kim. “Ready to do this?” she asked nervously. Of  _ course  _ she was going to have to work closely with her long-time crush to create a  _ love  _ potion. Just her luck.  _ Just pretend like it’s literally any other potion and you’ll be fine,  _ Trini thought to herself as she ran a hand through her hair nervously. 

Kim bit her lip (Trini may or may not have stared at the movement for a little bit too long) as she quickly read through the instructions on the chalkboard. “Yeah!” she exclaimed. “This should be fun. I heard Amortentia smells differently to everyone based on what smells they associate with romantic attraction.” Trini gulped. She could see where this was going..  _ Don’t ask me, don’t ask me, don’t -  _ her fervent thoughts were interrupted when Kim turned to her with a curious gaze. “What do you think yours will smell like?”

_ Aaaaand she asked me.  _ How was Trini supposed to answer that? Somehow she didn’t think saying ‘Well, Kimberly, it would probably smell just like you,’ could possibly come out as anything other than creepy. She let out a nervous chuckle. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” she said, attempting a casual tone. 

Kim bit her lip once more as she regarded Trini (this time Trini was determined not to let her eyes wander down to follow the action - Kim was looking  _ right at her _ , for goodness’ sake). Kim hummed. “I guess we will,” she said with a slightly lopsided smile that had Trini melting just a little bit. Without another word, Kim turned and made her way to the cupboards in the back to pick up their ingredients. Trini could only follow along helplessly, wondering how the hell she was going to survive this lesson.

…………………………………………….

“Now,” Professor Slughorn’s voice boomed from the front of the classroom, “your potions will be instantly complete once you add the final ingredient. You will know you made them correctly if your potions turn teal with a mother-of-pearl sheen. Recognize the spiral formations of the steam, a distinct characteristic of Amortentia. Take a big whiff and see what you smell - you may even learn something about yourselves,” he chuckled heartily as he gazed around the room.

Trini glanced nervously at the sprig of freshly-cut dandelion she held in her hand. She didn’t want to think about what kind of things she might say or do under the effects of a love potion. What if the fumes got to her head and she said something stupid? A very small part of her wished that she and Kim had somehow made a mistake and that the potion wouldn’t work. But she knew that wouldn’t happen - she and Kim had followed the instructions to the letter.  _ Stop being a coward, T,  _ she thought to herself.  _ Just put in the damn dandelion and get this over with. _

She glanced at Kim, who gave her an encouraging nod. With a deep breath, Trini steeled herself and threw the dandelion into their cauldron. She watched with satisfaction and slight trepidation as their potion instantly turned from powder blue to teal and the rising steam suddenly took on an unmistakable spiral shape. She turned to Kim and gestured at the cauldron. “Have at it, Princess.”

Kim blushed slightly and murmured, “Here goes nothing.” She leaned over the cauldron, eyes closed and breathing deeply. Trini watched with fascination as Kim’s face took on a peaceful expression and a lazy smile slowly appeared on her face. She took one more deep breath, humming lightly before standing upright once more. She slowly opened her eyes, still smiling lightly. “Huh,” was all she said. Trini watched her, waiting for her to say more, but the taller girl was in deep thought. 

Finally, Trini’s curiosity overtook her and she asked, “What did you smell, Kim?”

Kim bit her lip -  _ god, I’m going to spontaneously combust if she keeps doing that,  _ Trini thought - “Let’s just say it was surprising, but not entirely unexpected, if I’m being honest,” she said cryptically. “How about you take a turn, and then I’ll tell you,” Kim said.

Trini sighed as she regarded the potion with apprehension and maybe just a little excitement. It was now or never. With a shrug, she leaned over the cauldron and took a deep breath. She was instantly overcome with possibly the most intoxicating mix of scents she had ever smelled, and couldn’t help but smile at the overwhelming sense of calm that washed over her. She felt giddy and slightly lightheaded, and an electric tingling seemed to run from the tips of her fingers and throughout her body as she took another deep breath. She barely realized that her mouth was moving as she hummed and said, “Smells like...the Quidditch pitch….and lavender,” she took another deep breath, “...and honey.”

Trini pulled herself away from the potion and slowly opened her eyes as if she was coming out of a trance. She could feel that she had a dopey smile on her face, but she was still too much under the effects of the potion that there really wasn’t much she could do about it...until she looked at Kim, who was staring at her as if there was something she just couldn’t quite figure out.

Trini’s smile dropped and she suddenly felt as if she had just been dumped into an ice-cold bucket of water. She had just described the smells she found most attractive. Out loud. In front of her crush, who probably had connected the dots and realized that those were all smells that could be associated with...her. Trini was horrified. She felt a rush of heat color her face and quickly averted her gaze from the girl in front of her, looking at the chalkboard, the other students, Professor Slughorn - anywhere but at Kim. 

She briefly considered faking a sudden illness and fleeing the classroom, but was saved from having to come up with an excuse when Professor Slughorn cleared his throat and shouted over the clamor of the students’ excited chatter, “Class dismissed! Wonderful efforts today, everyone, even...eh...Evans - you were very close, just don’t forget the unicorn horn shavings next time, eh boy?”

Trini hurriedly gathered her things and stood, throwing her bookbag over her shoulders. She chanced a glance at the girl beside her and was surprised to see that Kim had barely moved. “I’ll...see you later, Kim,” she said, feeling awkward.

“Hmmm?” Kim’s eyes seemed to focus and she began to pack up her things as well. “Yeah! I’ll see you later, Trini.”

With a final nod, Trini left. She needed to find Zack and have him convince her that she didn’t just totally make a fool of herself.

……………………………………………..

“HaHAH! Crazy Girl - you - hahahahahaha.”

“Okay, I get it, Zack. I -”

“Crazy Girl, you CRAZY. Hahahahah,” Zack wheezed. On the way to the Quidditch pitch for their usual lunchtime practice, Trini had relayed the story of what had happened in Potions class. To her dismay, Zack seemed to think it was funny rather than mortifying, and was currently lying on the grass of the Quidditch pitch, holding his sides and crying tears of laughter.

“It’s not that funny, Zack,” she said in exasperation. However, Zack’s laughter was infectious and she found her mouth twitching. “Try embarrassing,” she said.

Zack finally calmed down. “It’s only embarrassing if Kim doesn’t feel the same way. What did she smell in the potion?”

Trini looked away, and Zack squinted his eyes at her. “You didn’t find out, did you?”

Trini scoffed. “Well, I was too busy spilling my deepest, darkest secret, wasn’t I?” 

Zack grinned at her. “Can I ask - why honey? I get the whole Quidditch pitch thing, and Kim  _ does  _ smell like lavender. But what does honey have to do with it?”

Trini sighed wistfully and took a seat on the grass next to Zack. “The first time we ever really talked was when we went to the greenhouse that weekend for the Potions assignment. We used honey to lure the Venemous Tentacula.”

“Awwwwwww -”

“Don’t you dare say it, Taylor,” Trini growled.

“Trini, that’s so  _ cute!”  _ Zack gushed. 

“I am  _ not,  _ nor will I  _ ever be,  _ cute,” Trini grumbled, shoving his arm lightly.

Trini let Zack ride out his laughter. When he finally calmed down, he said, “Listen, T. It’s not as bad as you think it is. Kim seems cool, you know. And even if she doesn’t feel the same way - and I’m NOT convinced that she doesn’t, by the way -  and even if she figured it out - and I’m NOT saying she did - she’ll understand. I’ll bet you a million dollars she won’t make fun of you or stop talking to you, okay?”

“You don’t have a million dollars, Zack.”

“You don’t know everything about me.”

Trini rolled her eyes. “Yes I do. Now, are we going to play Quidditch, or are you just going to lie there?” She pushed herself up and whisked her wand through the air, smiling in satisfaction when her non-verbal Accio spell worked and her broomstick came flying towards her from the broom closet at the other end of the field, coming to a stop next to her at waist level.

“Depends,” Zack pushed himself off the ground, “are you going to take my advice and not make things weird around Kim?” He too whisked his wand through the air, trying to emulate Trini’s non-verbal spell. He smiled as his broom came flying toward him - then frowned as it seemed to lose heart about halfway across the field and sputtered to a stop. He tried the spell again and grinned when the broomstick successfully completed its journey.

Trini shrugged. “Fine. I’ll just pretend like it never happened. I can do that,” she said as she mounted her broom. 

She flew up in the air, barking out a laugh when she heard Zack cry from down below, “Awww man! This isn’t even my broom!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmmmm, stuff happens. i'm slow, guys. forgive me. hope you like it - Chapter 12 is in progress, my friends.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a song featured in this chapter. In my head I'm picturing James Bartholomew's fingerstyle version of "If I Ain't Got You". 
> 
> If you haven't heard of James Bartholomew, well you're in for a treat. Check him out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bx4xpuEGGw
> 
> (I am zero percent affiliated with him, I just really like his music)

Pretending like nothing had happened in Potions class turned out to be surprisingly easy, considering that Trini didn’t have an opportunity to see Kim again until Thursday anyway. Trini was becoming increasingly busy. When she wasn’t at Quidditch practice (Stella had decided that she liked early-morning practices so much that she was now holding them three times a week), or actually in class, she found herself most days in the library with Billy, Zack, and Jason. Their professors seemed to have collectively decided to increase their workloads so that Trini barely had any free time. Even Zack was starting to bunker down and actually take Billy’s study schedule seriously (it helped that Trini regularly reminded him that if he wanted to become a Healer, he had to get at least an Exceeds Expectations on his Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Defence Against the Dark Arts OWLs).

Trini sighed as a bought of laughter hit her ears once more from the east corner of the library. Her quill paused in mid-air as she looked up, aiming a scowl at the offending group of third years who inexplicably had chosen the library as their hang-out spot when they could have chosen _literally anywhere else_ to not do their homework. It was times like these when Trini most missed her phone. She had literally hundreds of songs on there that could help drown out the constant babble of other students in the library, but noooooooo, Hogwarts just had to make any kind of electronic device go crazy. Trini continued to stare unseeingly at the group of third years as she wondered if she could create a spell that could simulate headphones. There wasn’t one that existed yet - that had been one of the first things she had researched in coming to Hogwarts.

“Yo Tiny, you done with that essay?” Zack peered over her shoulder at Trini’s parchment, which now contained several large ink blots from Trini’s hovering quill. Trini cursed and pulled out her wand to siphon the ink off the page.

“No, I can’t concentrate in here,” Trini said, aiming another annoyed look at the loud third-years. She looked over at Zack’s parchment, which had significantly less writing on it than Trini’s own. It was Wednesday evening, and they both were trying to finish an essay on Substantive charms, which Professor Flitwick had sprung on them earlier that week. It was just the two of them that day - Billy and Jason were both off scolding first years, or whatever it was that Prefects did. “Wanna go to my room?” she asked.

Zack put on a faux-scandalized look. “Why I do declayeh,” he began in a terrible southern accent, “Trini Gomez, are you aiming to proposition me? People will talk,” he said, fanning himself as he smirked.

Trini barked out a laugh. “You should be so lucky, homeboy. Wanna go up to my room so we can finish our essays in peace?” she amended pointedly.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Zack acquiesced, already gathering his books.

Trini kept her room nice and neat. It was simply decorated, with just a dresser in one corner, a large bed covered with fluffy blankets and soft pillows, and a large desk in the corner covered with scattered papers. Trini’s only personal touches were a large poster of the Holyhead Harpies on her north wall and her guitar - the one thing she couldn’t bear to leave home without - which she kept on a stand next to her bed.

As the pair walked in, Zack immediately threw himself facedown onto Trini’s plush bed with the comfortable air of someone who had been in her room many times before, even though she had only gotten her own room a few weeks ago. “Ahhhhh,” he groaned blissfully. “I swear, they give you Ravenclaws the most comfortable beds in this entire school.”

“How do you know the Hufflepuffs or the Slytherins don’t have the most comfortable beds?” Trini asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t,” Zack said, then grinned slyly. “But you can tell me how the Slytherins’ beds are once you get with Kim,” he winked at Trini’s exasperated scowl, “and _I_ can tell you what the Hufflepuffs’ beds are like once I get with Tommy.”

Trini went quickly from rolling her eyes at Zack’s comment about Kim to spluttering in surprise. “Wha - are you - do you like Tommy?”

Zack feigned nonchalance, but Trini could see his face redden. He gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. “I mean, she’s really nice. And you can’t deny she’s cute.”

Trini laughed as she plopped down on the bed next to her best friend. Tommy was tall, dark, and drop-dead gorgeous. “No I can’t. When did this happen?”

Zack turned to face her and shrugged once more. “I don’t know. I just started noticing her a lot more this year. And I got to talk to her a little bit at the party and when we hung out on Sunday. She’s just...she’s just cool, alright? Call me intrigued.”

Trini’s heart swelled with happiness. It wasn’t often that Zack actually admitted to liking anyone - not since he asked out Stephanie Martin in third year and got shot down in front of the entire Great Hall. Poor Zack had never quite gotten over the experience, even after joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team and blossoming into the charming and good looking guy he was (and, yes, even Trini’s gay ass realized that Zack was good looking). “For what it’s worth, I think you and Tommy would make a great couple,” she said. “You got a plan for asking her out?”

“Thanks T,” Zack grinned. “I was planning to ask her if she wanted to hang out with me at Hogsmeade. You shouldn’t be the only one scoring a date on Saturday.”

Trini held up a hand, “Uh - hold on. I thought we were all hanging out together on Saturday? You’re telling me you’re going to go off on your own?”

Zack rolled his eyes. “Please. You and Kim are going to ditch us as soon as we get there, don’t even try to deny it.”

Trini paused. If she was being honest, she hadn’t really put a lot of thought into what she and Kim would do in Hogsmeade because she thought their group would be sticking together. But if Zack and Tommy were going to be on a date….and Jason and Billy presumably wouldn’t mind hanging out together...that left Trini and Kim together. On their own. In what could be perceived as a date-type situation. Trini gulped.

“Let’s just….finish these essays,” Trini said, wondering silently if she could get her gay act together for an entire day out with Kim.

………………………………………….

Trini and Zack eventually finished their essays, which they turned in the next day in Charms at the same time as Billy and Jason. “Honestly, guys, I don’t know how you do it,” Trini said as Jason plopped down his and Billy’s essays onto Professor Flitwick’s desk, “I was barely able to finish all my work yesterday and I don’t even have to do Prefect duties.”

Jason shrugged. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without Billy’s help. We stayed in the library until 10 o’clock last night trying to finish that essay up.”

Trini grinned slyly and cast a look over to the group’s usual table, where Billy and Zack were talking animatedly - about Quidditch, Trini suspected, judging by Zack’s overly enthusiastic hand gestures. “Getting that one-on-one time, huh Jason? You gonna make a move soon, or what?”

Jason frowned at her. “I thought you were supposed to make my move for me?” At Trini’s confused expression, he elaborated, “You know. With our wingman bet. You didn’t forget, did you?”

Trini’s eyes widened. “No! Forget? Who - me? I would never - I - “ she gave up on her spluttering when Jason raised an amused eyebrow at her. “Okay, fine. I forgot. But I still have today and tomorrow to make it happen, Scott. Trust me, get your pink muumuu ready.”

Jason just smirked at her amusedly. “Sure, T. I’ll believe it when I see it. Besides, we might as well call it off since you’re already going to be spending the day with Kim on Saturday.”

“Okay, when did we all decide that we weren’t going to hang out together? I thought Hogsmeade was going to be a group thing.”

Jason just snorted in response. “Please! You and Kim are going to disappear somewhere together the moment we step into Hogsmeade.”

Trini scowled at him. “You know, that’s almost exactly the same thing that Zack said last night. You guys really do spend too much time together.”

……………………………………………..

After Charms class, the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors parted ways. After seeing Trini’s slightly nervous face, Zack whispered to her as the separated, “Remember, T. Just pretend like nothing happened on Tuesday. It’ll be fine.”

Trini took a deep breath before she entered the Potions classroom, her eyes immediately looking towards her usual table at the back of the classroom. Kim was there already, and their eyes met immediately. The Slytherin girl smiled and waved enthusiastically, and Trini felt a rush of relief sweep through her. Kim looked happy to see her, so that was a good sign.

“Hi Kim,” she said as she took her seat and pulled her Potions textbook from her bag.

“Hi Trini,” Kim answered with a bright smile. She wriggled her quill through the fingers of her right hand while her left tapped out a jaunty jig on their table. Was Trini imagining it, or did Kim seem extra jittery today?

“You alright, Kim?” Trini asked with concern. “You look like you’re nervous about something.”

Kim’s eyes widened for a moment. “Nervous? Me? Noooooo. I just had some coffee this morning. I don’t usually drink it.”

Trini found it endearing that Kim could get so worked up on coffee. She herself had to drink at least two cups before she even began to feel awake. Before she could reply, Kim began talking again. “On a completely unrelated note, I was wondering if you wanted to study together. Tonight.”

Trini looked up in surprise and felt a twinge of guilt. She had promised to help Kim with Potions and so far had done basically nothing for the other girl. She really should be more proactive about this whole tutoring thing if she wanted to help Kim. “Of course, Kim,” she answered. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a very good tutor lately. We should set up a regular time to hang out - I mean, to study.”

With relief, Trini noted that Kim didn’t appear to be mad at her. If anything, the Slytherin girl looked overjoyed that Trini had agreed. “Don’t worry about it, Trini!” she exclaimed. “I’m sure you have a really busy schedule. I’m just glad you’re free tonight.”

Trini smiled at her, internally melting at the thought of hanging out with Kim and overjoyed herself that there seemed to be no lingering awkwardness after their last Potions lesson. She turned to the front of the classroom as Professor Slughorn cleared his throat and began lecturing, a slight smile playing on her face as she thought about Kim wanting to spend more time with her.

…………………………………………

The day passed quickly after that, and soon Trini found herself waiting for Kim at the entrance to the Library, like they had agreed to after their Potions lesson that morning. People passed by and waved to her, calling out their greetings. Trini waved back amicably. Most of those people she knew only peripherally from classes or from seeing them around the Ravenclaw common room. Some of those people Trini had never even met before, and she could tell they were only saying hi to her because they knew her from Quidditch. Trini couldn’t wait until Kim came so they could go inside and study in peace.

As if hearing her silent wish, Trini soon spotted Kim rounding the nearby corner, short hair flowing gracefully as she walked towards the shorter girl. “Hi Trini,” Kim breathed as she arrived. “Thanks for waiting. Ready to go in?”

“Hey Kim,” Trini said. “I wasn’t waiting long, so no worries.” She led the taller girl into the Library with a smile on her face until - “Oh.” Trini stopped walking as she scowled at the large table in the corner of the Library.

“What’s wrong?” Kim asked, following Trini’s gaze.

“It’s just that group of third-years was in here yesterday. They were so loud, I could barely concentrate at all,” Trini sighed.

Kim looked at the younger group of students. As if on cue, a loud wave of laughter floated over to them from the corner. “Hmmm,” Kim hummed, “Want me to take advantage of my Prefect status and kick them out? I can do that, you know...I think.”

Trini laughed and shook her head. “I have a better, more non-confrontational idea. How about we go study in my room? I do seem to remember something about promising to show you the view.” And - whoa - where did that come from? Trini had to admit it, that was smooth. Zack would be proud. Now, hopefully, Kim didn’t think that was too forward. Trini gulped subtly and turned to look at the taller girl.

Kim was looking at her, mouth slightly agape. _Damn, maybe that_ was _too forward._ “Uhhh,” Trini tried to backtrack, “If you want. Or we could stay in the common room. Or go to your common room. Or go to your room.” _Jeez, T, stop talking. You’re only making it worse. Did you just invite yourself to Kim’s room?_ Trini thought in a panic.

“No!” Kim exclaimed suddenly. “I mean - Your room sounds great. Let’s do that,” she smiled brightly at the shorter girl.

Trini smiled in relief. “Well then. Let’s go, Princess.”

…………………………………………….

Trini led Kim up to the Ravenclaw tower, feeling more and more nervous with every step. She had cleaned her room, right? Yes, she was sure. Her bed was made, she didn’t have any piles of clothes laying around...the only messy thing in there was her desk and, really, it wasn’t all _that_ messy. A sudden thought hit her. Oh god, her room wasn’t _too_ clean, was it? What if Kim thought she was some sort of neat-freak? Not that there was anything wrong with that, but - _stop it, T. You’re overthinking things._

Trini tried to let her worried thoughts go and concentrate instead on her conversation with Kim. Luckily, the other girl seemed not to have noticed Trini’s internal dilemma. She was telling Trini about Ty’s latest training scheme, which involved the entire Slytherin team running laps around the lake before jumping in and actually swimming across it.

“Let me tell you, Trin, swimming is fun and all, but not so much when you have to worry about getting eaten by the giant squid or dealing with handsy grindelows,” Kim was saying.

“Also, not so much fun when it’s about 50 degree-weather,” Trini added.

Kim nodded at her, wide-eyed. “Right? What is it with Quidditch captains? It’s like they’re all required to be at least a little bit insane,” she added, shaking her head with an incredulous smile.

“Remember that time Jeremy Jackson tried to get the entire Hufflepuff team to fly non-stop for -” Trini put her hands up in sarcastic air quotes -” ‘endurance training’? That lasted for about 10 minutes, hah.”

“That’s right!” Kim laughed. “They all tried to come flying into the Great Hall and Professor McGonagall had a field day yelling at them!”

They laughed in fond remembrance as Trini led the Slytherin girl up the stairs to the Ravenclaw Tower. They came to a stop at the top of the stairs in front of the bust of a giant eagle and Trini quickly answered the eagle’s riddle (“I have a head and tail, but no arms or legs. What am I?” - Answer: a coin), before leading Kim through the largely empty Ravenclaw common room.

“This isn’t strange is it?” Kim asked, suddenly sounding apprehensive as she looked around at the few other students in the common room. Nobody paid them all that much attention, but Kim fidgeted nervously with the sleeves of her robes all the same. “I mean, for a student from another house to go up to your room?” she clarified upon seeing Trini’s confused look.

“Oh!” Trini nodded in understanding. “Nah, it’s not an issue. People come and go all the time. In fact, Zack was just up there with me last night,” she said.

“Oh,” Kim sounded surprised. “Right. Of course.”

Trini quickly led Kim up the stairs to the fifth year quarters, leading her to the second wooden door on the right, which had _T. Gomez_ inscribed on a large brass plaque nailed to its surface. She nervously opened her door and stood aside to let Kim through first.

The taller girl smiled her thanks and stepped into the room, stopping a few steps in to look around. Trini closed the door behind them and stood back, watching Kimberly nervously. Kim took a few more steps towards the west-facing window that overlooked the grounds and a bit of the lake. It was just about six o’clock and the sky outside was blazing orange and red as the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains in the distance.

Trini gazed at the other girl, taking in the way the last remnants of the day’s sunlight glinted off her light brown skin. Kim looked absolutely radiant, and Trini felt a curious swooping sensation in her chest. She took a few steps to stand beside Kim at the window. The two of them stood in silence, watching the sunset. After the sun had successfully completed its journey below the mountains to the west, they kept staring out over the grounds for a few long moments before Kim looked around at the room briefly again and turned towards Trini, smiling. “I like your room,” she said. “It’s very….you.”

Trini cocked her head, brow slightly furrowed as she pondered Kim’s words. “How so?” she finally asked, smiling lightly as she dropped her backpack on the floor next to her desk.

Kim shrugged slightly, looking once more around the room. “It’s very neat. Quiet. Just like you.” She glanced out the window quickly. “And the view is nice,” she added, a slight blush rising in her cheeks.

Trini couldn’t help the pleased smile that overtook her face. “Well Princess, I’m glad you like it,” she said. “So, do you wanna - “ she trailed off, gesturing towards the bed.

Kim’s mouth formed an ‘O’ in an almost comically surprised expression. “Wh - what?” she spluttered, eyes flickering quickly back and forth between Trini and the bed.

Trini stared at her. “Do you want to study? We can sit on the bed. I would say we could sit at the desk, but there’s only one chair…” she trailed off. “What did you think I was trying to say?”

Kim blushed deeply, and Trini’s heart beat a little faster as she watched red creep up Kim’s neck. _Keep your cool, T._ Her mind briefly flitted towards what Kim had just been thinking, but her thoughts were quickly wiped clean when Kim laughed suddenly, nodded, and proceeded to climb up onto the bed.

On her bed. Kimberly Hart. Was on her bed.

Trini’s brain malfunctioned.

Kim settled into her spot and brought out her Potions book, laying it across her lap as she leaned back against Trini’s many comfortable pillows. She looked up at Trini expectantly. “You coming, Trin?” she asked, much too innocently for the types of thoughts running through Trini’s mind at that moment.

Trini snapped back into action, determined not to come off as the incredibly thirsty little gay she was. She picked up her backpack from the floor and clambered up onto the bed beside Kim, leaving a healthy amount of space between the two of them. Fat lot of good that did, as Kimberly immediately scooted closer to her and laid her Potions book across her own left leg and Trini’s right leg.

“So, shall we start with the Efficius’ Theory of Limited Supply?” Kim asked, her melodic voice entirely too close to Trini’s ear to allow the smaller girl to have any semblance of competent thought.

“Uh huh,” Trini said hoarsely. Internally, she groaned. Surely Kimberly Hart was going to be the death of her.

……………………………………….

As it turned out, Trini was able to make it through their study session without spontaneously combusting. Trini really needed to stop psyching herself out. Once she allowed herself a little bit of time to acclimate to being on her bed literally an inch away from her long-time crush, she found that she was able to focus on her studies and not be completely useless as a tutor. Admittedly “a little bit of time” in this case turned out to be something like thirty minutes, but can you blame her? Trini was a hopeless gay mess and she was sitting next to THE Kimberly Hart. Cut her some slack.

Once Trini got her act together, it ended up being a rather successful study session. By the time an hour and a half had passed, they had covered the entirety of Chapter 6 and had gone over all the steps in the Bamboozlement Brew which, Slughorn had warned them, would take quite a bit of mental preparation to make correctly, as anyone who attempted it suddenly found themselves forgetting why they were making it, where they were, and (in extreme cases) _who_ they were.

“Trini, I can’t thank you enough,” Kim said as she finally packed her Potions book into her bag. “This has been so helpful, honestly. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Trini blushed at the compliment. “You don’t give yourself enough credit Kim. Besides, I like studying with you. It’s no problem.”

Kim smiled at her gratefully. She stood up and took one more look around to make sure she hadn’t forgotten to pack anything up in her bag. Her eyes slid from the bed to the sleek guitar sitting besides the bed. “Hey, what’s that?” she asked in curiosity, pointing at the instrument.

Trini followed her gaze and scooted closer to the edge of the bed near Kim. “Oh that’s my guitar.”

Kim’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That’s a guitar? It looks quite a bit different from the ones I’ve seen before. It plays music, though? It’s not playing anything right now…” she trailed off, tapping a finger confusedly against the curved wood as if that would suddenly activate it.

Trini chuckled. _Purebloods - they miss out on so much,_ she thought to herself. “It’s a muggle guitar. I’ve had it since I was a kid. I didn’t want to give it up, even when I found out I was a witch and learned about wizard guitars.”

Kim turned to her, her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline in surprise. “When you found out...Trini, are you a muggleborn?”

Trini’s expression suddenly became guarded. Muggleborns were much more accepted in this day and age, and Trini would never have expected Kim to be one of _those_ kinds of purebloods, but one could never be too careful. “Yeah,” she answered carefully, crossing her arms protectively over her chest. “Is there a problem with that?”

Kim looked mortified. “No!” she practically shouted. “No,” she repeated. “No problem at all. Of course not. I just...didn’t realize, I guess.”

“Oh,” Trini relaxed. “Cool.”

Kim, satisfied that she hadn’t offended Trini, looked back at the guitar. “So how does it work? How can it make sound without magic?”

Trini smiled at the other girls curiosity. She picked up the guitar and slung it over her leg. “When you pluck the strings, they vibrate. See this hole here? The vibrations travel through the wood and around the compartment inside, producing a sound. See?” Trini strummed the strings and smiled as Kim gasped in surprise as the soft notes filled the room.

“Wow!” Kim exclaimed. She reached out and plucked a note, giggling with delight as a G-note played loudly. Trini bit her lip to control her smile. This was almost too cute to watch. Kim looked up at Trini. “And you can play this thing?”

Trini nodded. “Yeah, I’ve played since I was little. My dad taught me.”

Kim got a sudden gleam in her eye and she sat down once more on the edge of the bed beside Trini. “Can you play me something?” she asked hopefully.

Trini gulped and felt her face blush red. She wasn’t lying about knowing how to play - she knew she was good at it. It’s just that she had always been a bit shy about playing in front of anyone other than her dad.

Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Kim smiled at her charmingly. “Oh, come on, Trin. Just a little song? For me?”

Well, goddamn, when you put it like that….Trini sighed and shook her head incredulously. “Alright, Princess. Since you asked so nicely. I guess I can play you a song.”

Kim squealed with delight and clapped her hands, settling onto the edge of the bed more comfortably. Trini adjusted her seat as well, turning so she was facing Kim more directly. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. She blew out a nervous breath as she played a few chords to get her fingers warmed up.

For her song, she chose an old favorite, a classic song she had listened to since she was young. It was a song she had played literally hundreds of times before. She knew there was no way she could ever make a mistake on this particular song, and if she was playing for Kim, she wanted it to be perfect.

Another deep breath. A short glance at Kim’s expectant face. And she started to play. It was a beautiful old pop song - a big hit in the muggle world - that she had arranged into a fingerstyle guitar version a few years before. It was her absolute favorite song, and she found herself closing her eyes and nodding along as her fingers moved of their own accord, filling the room with a gently melody.

She played slowly, taking her time. A song like this couldn’t be rushed. She didn’t dare look at Kim’s face while she was playing. Was she taking it too far? Maybe Kim was expecting something a little more along the lines of “Old McDonald”, rather than a three-minute-long assault on her ears. Oh god, what if her arrangement wasn’t as good as she thought it was? What if Kim thought this was all just noise?

Well, it was too late to turn back now. Trini’s perfectionism wouldn’t allow her to just trail off in the middle of the song. She would have to follow it all the way through. She kept going until, finally, she played the last few notes, letting the last strum linger on as she slowly opened her eyes again.

She gulped, then found the courage to look at Kim again. The other girl was staring at her, wide-eyed and mouth gaping. Trini stared back. “Um...” she trailed of uncertainly. “Was that too much? That was too much. Sorry.”

Kim seemed to shake out of her stupor. “Trini, no, that was...that was absolutely amazing. It was so beautiful. How...how in the world did you learn to play like that?”

Trini smiled with relief. She shrugged. “My dad taught me,” she said. “He’s much better than I am,” she shrugged self-consciously.

“Well I don’t see how _that’s_ possible,” Kim gushed. Trini blushed.

The two sat, smiling at each other for a few moments before Kim seemed to shake herself. “Well, I - uh - I should probably go. It’s getting late.”

Trini nodded. She stood, placing her guitar back in its stand while Kim gathered her bag. “I’ll walk you to the door,” she said.

Kim smiled, biting her lip slightly. They walked down the stairs to the common room, which was now significantly more full than it had been when they came in. Kim seemed much more at ease than she had earlier. It helped that nobody was paying them the slightest bit of attention. Trini pulled open the common room door and stepped outside with Kim, propping it open behind her. The clamor of her fellow Ravenclaws echoed out into the hall through the slightly open door, but the stairwell itself was devoid of activity.

“Thanks again for studying with me, Trini. And thanks for playing me that song. It really was...just spectacular,” Kim said, smiling lightly.

Trini grinned. “Anytime, Kim.”

“I’ll see you later, Trini.”

“Bye Kim.”

Kim turned and started walking down the stairs. Trini watched her go, feeling as if she was missing out on an opportunity. She gritted her teeth. _Just do it, T,_ she told herself.

“Hey Kim!” she called. Kim paused on the stairs and looked up at her questioningly. “Do you want to have lunch with us tomorrow?”

Turns out, Trini had no need to be nervous. Kim grinned widely back at her. “Yeah,” she said simply.

A little surprised, but with a great feeling of accomplishment, Trini smiled back. “Okay then. Cool. I’ll see you at lunch. Bye Kim.”

“See you tomorrow, Trin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wasssssssup! Here's a new chapter for you.


	13. Chapter 13

“Trini, watch out!” Trini whipped her head around just in time to catch sight of a Bludger barreling straight towards her head. Her eyes widened, she gripped her broomstick tightly and did a barrel roll, narrowly avoiding having her head violently smashed in.

“Trini! With me! The rest of you, run through Maneuver 22,” Stella barked out before zooming down to the grass pitch. Trini grimaced - she was in for it now. She braced herself for the inevitable scolding she was about to receive. Admittedly, morning Quidditch practices were never her thing, but she was extra tired today after having stayed up a little too late the night before, buzzing with adrenaline and overanalyzing everything Kim had said to her that day. Her Quidditch performance wasn’t helped by the fact that her mind kept wandering of its own accord to a certain Slytherin girl with a dazzling smile.

Still, that was no excuse. Trini shouldn’t be letting anything get in the way of Quidditch practice, especially when they were practicing with live Bludgers. Trini sighed and angled her broom downwards, following Stella’s path to the Quidditch pitch. She alighted gracefully onto the grass and trudged reluctantly to where Stella was waiting for her, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

“You weren’t paying attention,” Stella said matter-of-factly. “You could have been seriously hurt by that Bludger.”

Trini nodded in chagrin. “I know. It won’t happen again, Stella. I swear.”

Surprisingly enough, that seemed to be good enough for Stella. The Ravenclaw Captain relaxed and shot Trini a smile. “I know you won’t, T. Nothing like a close call to wake someone up in the morning, huh?” she playfully nudged Trini’s arm.

Trini chuckled, surprised, but pleased that Stella didn’t seem to be in the scolding mood. “Oh yeah, I’m WIDE awake now,” she shot back. It was true. The shot of adrenaline that pushed through her system after almost getting Bludgered was almost enough that she thought she might not even need her morning coffee. Almost.

Stella grinned back at her. “So what’s going on, huh? I’ve never seen you this distracted before,” she said concernedly.

Trini blushed. There was no way she was going to tell Stella she had almost gotten her head knocked off because she was busy replaying the look on Kim’s face after Trini had played the guitar for her the night before. “Nothing!” she replied, a little too quickly. “Nothing’s going on, I was just feeling a little sleepy.”

Stella studied her face, and Trini did her best to put on a nonchalant expression. She avoided Stella’s gaze and turned to watch their teammates fly through the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stella grin suddenly. “Uh huh,” she drawled teasingly. “Come on, I know that look on your face. Who’s the lucky girl, huh?”

Trini whipped her head around to look at her Captain in shock. “Wh - what?” she stuttered. “What are you - I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, gripping her broomstick nervously.

Stella gave her one of her trademark no-nonsense looks. “Come on Trin. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve never seen you act like this before, and don’t think I didn’t notice that little moment you had with a certain Slytherin girl in the Great Hall last week. When you were _supposed_ to be in our team tactics meeting, I might add.”

Trini could only look at her in horror. Was she really that obvious? If she wasn’t careful, the whole school would soon know that she had a crush on Kimberly.

As if she could read her mind, Stella nudged her again, shoulder to shoulder, and smiled at her comfortingly. “Don’t worry, T. You’re not being obvious. I just happen to be amazingly smart and I have extremely acute powers of observation and deduction….and it takes one to know one.”

Trini expression morphed into shock. “Wh - you? You’re also….with the liking girls and...stuff?”

Stella looked at her in amusement. “Yes, with the liking girls and stuff,” she laughed. “Come on, T. For a person with similar...interests, shall we say, you could sure stand to pay a little more attention to your peers. We’re in boarding school, for god’s sake, _everybody’s_ at least experimenting a little. You know I’m dating Stephanie Martin, right? It’s not exactly a secret.”

Trini was at a loss for words. “Wha - ohhhhhh,” she said, as realization dawned on her. She knew Stella and Stephanie hung out a lot...and now that she thought about it, they _did_ always hold hands in the halls. And they always sat very close to each other in the Great Hall. And Stephanie always cheered for Ravenclaw during Quidditch matches, even though she was in Gryffindor. And...oh.

“Wow, I’m an idiot,” Trini said, chuckling.

Stella laughed along. “Yes, well now that we’ve established how terrible your observational skills are, let’s move the conversation along to what you’re planning to do about this crush you’ve got that’s distracting you enough to not even notice when a Bludger is flying straight towards your head. We need to get this sorted, I can’t have you getting injured when you’re my best Seeker.”

Trini frowned. “I’m your _only_ Seeker,” she pointed out.

“Yes, well. Semantics. The fact of the matter is I can’t have you with your head figuratively in the clouds and getting knocked out by Bludgers all the time. The paperwork alone….” Stella shook her head wearily. “And also, I wouldn’t want you getting hurt and whatever,” she added as an afterthought, giving Trini a cheeky smile.

Trini laughed lightly at Stella’s feigned indifference. “I promise I won’t go daydreaming during practice again, Stel,” she said, smiling.

Stella nodded, but kept her gaze focused on the shorter girl. “Yes, and I’m glad to hear it, but you didn’t answer my real question. What are you going to do about this crush? As in, when are you going to ask Kim out?”

Trini blushed again. “I’m not - it’s just a crush. I’m not going to _do_ anything about it,” she spluttered. “She doesn’t even feel the same way, it’d be stupid of me to try anything.”

Stella barked out a laugh suddenly. “Again, with your very extremely limited powers of observation,” she said, shaking her head in astonishment. “Do me a favor, and next time you’re hanging out with Kimberly, _pay attention_ to the way she acts around you. Really pay attention. Then come tell me your feelings are one-sided.”

Stella sauntered away, shaking her head and chuckling to herself. “Doesn’t feel the same way, I swear….” Trini heard her mutter. She left Trini standing at the edge of the pitch in shock, her mind racing and the small little spark of hope she’d been sheltering in her chest burning just a little bit brighter.  

………………………………………

Her classes that Friday morning seemed to pass by her in mere moments as Trini impatiently awaited lunchtime. Time flew by as she sat through Transfiguration and Divination, then a free period during which she and Billy got a head start on next week’s work in the Library. Finally, 12 o’clock rolled around and Trini hurried Billy to the Great Hall. To her surprise, Billy seemed to be just as eager to get to the Great Hall as she was.  

“So I know why _I’m_ in such a hurry to get to the Great Hall,” Trini said as they paused on a flight of moving stairs, waiting for it to safely lodge itself into place. She had already told Billy that she had invited Kim to have lunch with them that day. “But you seem to be in just as much of a hurry. Why’s that?”

Billy gave her a sheepish smile. “I just have something important to ask Jason today,” he said.

Intrigued, Trini opened her mouth to pepper him with questions, but before she had a chance, the stairs had settled into place and Billy had taken off again. She hurried to keep up with him, taking two steps for every long stride of his. Before she knew it, they were entering the Great Hall. She took a quick glance around. Kim wasn’t there yet, but she spotted Jason and Zack sitting at their usual spot at the head of the Gryffindor table.

She and Billy made their way towards them. “About time you made it, guys!” Zack smiled excitedly upon seeing them. “We were just making plans for Hogsmeade tomorrow. Jason and I want to hit Zonko’s for sure, but that’s pretty much all we’ve got.”

Trini shrugged. “I want to hit the bookstore, but that’s the only thing I’ve got on the list.”

“Besides Madame Puddifoot’s with your girlfriend, of course,” Zack sniggered.

Trini slapped his shoulder lightly. “She’s not my girlfriend,” she said, her face reddening.

“Actually, I wanted to go to Madame Puddifoot’s,” Billy said suddenly. “Jason, I was wondering if you’d want to go with me,” he said.

Trini and Zack’s jaws dropped as they stared at the two boys sitting across from them. Jason’s face had gone red, and he was also looking at Billy, looking like he couldn’t believe what was happening. Billy didn’t seem particularly bothered by the shocked silence emanating from his friends as he waited patiently for Jason’s answer.

After a few moments of Jason gaping silently, Trini decided that the Gryffindor boy needed a bit of a push. She kicked him lightly under the table, which seemed to knock him out of his stupor. He cleared his throat, then shot Billy a nervous grin. “Like, just the two of us?” he asked uncertainly.

Billy nodded. “Yes, just you and me,” he said matter-of-factly.

Jason was nodding before Billy even finished his sentence. “Yeah, uh...yeah I want to. That sounds good. That sounds great! Just us. At Madame Puddifoot’s. On a….” he trailed of.

“Date. On a date. In case that wasn’t clear,” Billy finished his sentence for him.

Trini grabbed Zack’s arm excitedly as they watched the scene unfold. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face, but she didn’t want to make a noise and interrupt this moment.

“Yeah,” Jason said happily, sporting a wide grin. “On a date. I’d like that.”

“Great!” Billy smiled. “Good. That’s great. Okay.”

It was silent for a moment. Then - “Yes! Haha!” Zack and Trini cheered, unable to keep their excitement down any longer. “It’s about time, you two!” Zack said happily, reaching across the table to give Jason and Billy high fives. The two boys looked at them, shocked, as if they both had forgotten that they had an audience. Jason and Billy both returned Zack’s high fives sheepishly.

Jason cleared his throat, his face still redder than Trini had ever seen it, but sporting a pleased grin all the same. “Thanks for the support, guys,” he chuckled.

“Hi guys!”

They were momentarily distracted by Kim’s appearance as she slid into the seat next to Trini to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the smaller girl.

“Hi Kim,” Jason and Billy echoed.

“Hi Trini’s girlf-ooof!” Zack said. He was cut off by a sharp glare from Trini and an equally sharp blow from her elbow.

Trini cleared her throat, her face reddening. Deciding to pretend like that hadn’t just happened, she turned towards Kim and smiled. “Hi Kim,” she said.

Kim smiled back, aiming a slightly confused look at her, and then Zack. “Hi,” she repeated.

“Anywayyy,” Jason said, breaking the silence. “We were just talking about Hogsmeade tomorrow Kim. Is there anything you want to do in particular?”

Kim thought for a moment. “Well I don’t really have any particular plans. I’d like to check out Honeydukes, but other than that, I’m game for whatever you all want to do.” She shrugged and smiled around the table.

Jason grinned. “Well Zack and I wanted to check out Zonko’s. Trini wants to go to the bookstore. Then Billy and I are going to lunch,” he paused for a moment with a shy smile aimed at Billy, “and Zack and Tommy are going on a date, probably. So that leaves Trini and you together. And then maybe we can all meet up at the Three Broomsticks for a drink before we head back.”

Kim stared at him for a moment. So did Trini, for that matter. So much for trying to keep the group together. After a few moments of shocked silence, Kim said “Zack and Tommy are going on a date?”

Well. Of all the things for Kim to focus on, that was the last thing Trini expected her to be surprised by.

“Oh yeah,” Zack said, “Thanks for reminding me.” He turned around and looked towards the Hufflepuff table, where Tommy was sitting with a few other sixth years a few seats down. “Hey Tommy!” Zack called.

Tommy (and her entire group of friends, for that matter) looked over at Zack. “Yeah, what’s up?” Tommy called back.

Zack shot her a charming grin. “Want to go on a date with me tomorrow at Hogsmeade?” Zack called back, with barely any regard for the multitude of people that could hear their shouted conversation.

Tommy gave him a surprised look, but it didn’t take her long to recover. She grinned back at him easily. “Yeah sure,” she called back.

“Nice! See you tomorrow at eight in the Entrance Hall!” Zack called back, grinning happily. He turned back to Trini and the others, who were looking at him in shock (on Trini and Kim’s side of the table) and admiration (on Jason and Billy’s side of the table). “Glad that got settled,” Zack said to them nonchalantly. “Wouldn’t want her to think we’re going to Hogsmeade together as _just friends._ ” He purposefully aimed a pointed stare at Trini when he said that last part.

Trini stared at him. He made that look so easy. She glanced at Kim, wondering if she could ever ask the other girl out so casually, but she was distracted by Kim’s look of confusion. The Slytherin girl kept shooting puzzled looks between her and Zack.

“Ummmm,” Trini said. “I guess that really does leave you and me together tomorrow,” she said to Kim. “I’m cool with whatever you want to do,” she added nervously. Kim was being way too quiet and it was making Trini anxious. “Or you don’t have to, if you want to hang out with one of your other friends,” Trini added quickly. “That’s cool, too. I’ll just….” she trailed off. She didn’t really want to admit that if Kim didn’t want to hang out with her, she would probably just mope around on her own. Luckily, she didn’t have to finish her thought.

“No no, I don’t want to hang out with anyone else,” Kim said, then blushed as if realizing what that sounded like. “I mean, I’m sure we can find some way to pass the time,” she laughed nervously, then cringed, as if realizing what _that_ sounded like. “I just mean...yeah, let’s hang out,” she clarified.

Trini watched her, her smile growing slowly as Kim grew more and more flustered. She almost forgot that Zack, Jason, and Billy were all listening in on this conversation. Until - “Now that _that’s_ settled,” Zack said airily, grinning widely at the group, “I bet Jason earlier that I could eat more hot dogs than him in a minute. Who wants to see me win the bet?”

……………………………………………..

It wasn’t until later that day that it finally hit Trini that she and Kim would really be hanging out together. Alone. At Hogsmeade. After her talk with Stella that morning, Trini had been feeling hopeful. Kim had stuck by her side during lunch, conversing mostly with the boys, who always tended to take charge of the conversation while Trini preferred to hang back and listen. Every once in a while, Kim would smile over at Trini, her shoulder brushing Trini’s as they sat side by side.

Trini was on her way back to the Ravenclaw common room, busy thinking about what Stella had told her that morning. She was so in her head that she almost didn’t hear her name being called from behind her.

“Trini! Hey Trini!”

Trini looked around to find the very person she had just been thinking about running towards her. “Hey Kim,” she said, giving the other girl a pleased smile.

“Hi Trini,” Kim walked towards her, adjusting her bookbag on her shoulders. “Are you heading up to your common room?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Trini nodded. “Where are you headed?”

Kim bit her lip slightly. “Well, I was hoping I could walk you up. We didn’t really get to talk much during lunch.”

Trini’s smile widened. “I’d like that,” she looked down shyly before chancing a glance up at Kim. The other girl looked overjoyed. She hooked her arm through Trini’s and the pair walked off towards the Ravenclaw tower.

They made easy conversation as they went. It never ceased to surprise Trini how easy it was to talk to Kim, as long as she got over her nerves. They talked about classes and gushed over Billy and Jason finally getting together (Jason had wasted no time in telling Kim the news once lunch was over).

Although they were walking slowly, it seemed like no time before the two of them were arriving at the eagle bust at the top of the Ravenclaw tower stairs. Trini slowed as they reached the top of the stairs. “Thanks for walking me up,” she said, smiling shyly.

“I’m happy to do it,” Kim replied. “I actually wanted to ask you something,” she added, biting her bottom lip nervously.

Intrigued, Trini turned to face the other girl, giving her her full attention. “What’s up, Kim?”

Kim took a deep breath. “When Zack asked Tommy out….I was surprised. I, um, I kinda thought _you_ and Zack were dating, actually. But you didn’t seem all that bothered by it,” she smiled at Trini sheepishly, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.

Trini stared at her in shock for a few moments. Then burst out laughing. “You thought me and - and Zack?!” She laughed some more. “What in the world made you think that?”

Kim laughed along, shrugging. She held up her hand, putting up a finger as she counted up. “Oh come on. First, you two are _always_ together. Second, he’s always hugging you. And you two are so...affectionate. I mean, I saw you in the Great Hall last Sunday and he was kissing you.” Kim had the slightest pout on her face. It might have been the most endearing expression Trini had ever seen her make.

Trini shrugged, smiling fondly at the other girl. “He was kissing my forehead. I guess we’re pretty affectionate. Well, Zack’s the affectionate one, to be honest. But it’s totally platonic. We’re best friends. He might as well be my brother. And I know he thinks of me as a sister. Honestly there’s no way we would ever get together.” She smiled at the other girl’s dumbfounded expression. “I can’t believe you thought we were together,” Trini continued. “I would have thought it was obvious, especially after Potions class on Tuesday,” she chuckled uneasily.

Kim looked at her in confusion. “Potions class?”

Trini blushed. “Yeah...with the whole Amortentia thing,” she said slowly, looking at Kim uncertainly. “I mean, I blabbed everything I smelled in that potion and they were all scents associated with you.” _Shut up, shut up, stop talking right this second,_ Trini thought to herself even as her mouth was still moving. The message obviously didn’t make it from her brain to her mouth. Kim was gaping at her in disbelief. Trini felt a sense of horror overcome her. She slapped a hand over her mouth. “And...you didn’t know that, did you?” _I should not have said that, I should NOT have said that,_ she thought fervently.

“Uhh,” she hated how shaky her voice sounded. She took a few steps from Kim, pacing back and forth in the small space between the eagle bust and where Kim was standing. “Kim, look. It’s - I - I can be cool about it, I swear. I’m one hundred percent on-board with being f-friends.” Trini hated that she was stuttering. She paced back towards the eagle statue, running a hand through her hair nervously. She was messing this up, real badly. “Look, Kim -”

“Trini, stop,” Kim grabbed both of Trini’s hands, which Trini hadn’t noticed she had been wringing in her agitation. Trini looked down at their joined hands, trying to ignore how her heart fluttered nervously at the contact. “Trin, look at me,” Kim said softly.

Trini couldn’t. She brought her head up, but aimed her eyes somewhere over Kim’s left shoulder. This was possibly the most mortifying experience of her life. Kim didn’t give up. “Trini. Look at me, please,” she repeated. Finally, Trini brought her eyes up to meet Kim’s. The taller girl wasn’t looking at her with pity, as she expected. Instead, she looked...happy? Kim was smiling softly.

“I never told you what I smelled in the Amortentia, did I?” she asked gently, taking a step closer to Trini. Stunned, Trini simply shook her head. She was finding it difficult to form any coherent thoughts when Kim was standing so close to her. Kim hummed softly, smiling that slightly lopsided smile that never failed to make Trini want to melt into a little puddle at Kimberly’s feet. “I smelled sandalwood, because that’s what your jacket smelled like that day in Hogsmeade when you let me wear it…” she took yet another step closer to Trini so that they were toe-to-toe and Trini had to tilt her head up slightly to keep eye contact with the taller girl. Trini felt like she could barely breathe. Was this really happening? She would have pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, but Kim still had a hold of both her hands.

Kim kept talking, her voice barely a whisper now. “...I smelled books, because I always think of you when I’m in the Library…” Trini was dreaming, right? This had to be a dream. Kim kept going. “...and I smelled honey. Just like you did. Because the first time we ever really talked was that day in the greenhouse.”

Trini was in shock. Somehow the only words she could make her mouth say were, “We fought a Venemous Tentacula.”

Kim giggled. “I guess it was a bonding experience.”

Trini was still trying to wrap her mind around the sudden turn of events. She had hoped...but she had never _really_ considered it to be a possibility that Kim could like her back. “So you...like me?” she asked, dumbfounded.

Kim bit her lip (a nervous habit, Trini was starting to realize). “I do,” she nodded. She studied Trini’s face. “And you...like me?” she asked, voice shaking slightly.

Trini smiled so wide her cheeks actually hurt a little bit. “I do,” she said surely.

Kim’s answering smile was possibly the most beautiful thing Trini had ever seen. “So tomorrow at Hogsmeade...is that a date?” Kim asked. “I mean, I would like it to be. If you would, too.”

Trini could not believe her luck. Kimberly Hart wanted to go on a date with her. She was the luckiest human on earth. She nodded. “It’s a date, Hart,” she said, smiling.

Kim hummed happily. “It’s a date, Gomez,” she said back. They stood there for a few moments before some raucous laughter echoed up the stairs, signifying that it wouldn’t be long before they weren’t alone in the stairway anymore. “It’s almost curfew,” Kim said reluctantly. “I should go.”

Trini nodded, still smiling widely. “Goodnight Kim.”

Kim hesitated for a moment, then leaned in suddenly. Trini breathed in sharply as Kim’s lips brushed her cheek, just barely catching the corner of her mouth. Trini’s lips parted with a gasp and she felt a tingling sensation where Kim’s lips were. Kim lingered there for a moment longer, then (much too soon, in Trini’s opinion) she moved away. “You look cute when you blush,” Kim said, winking at her as she walked back to the stairs. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she smiled. Then she was down the stairs and out of sight.

Trini huffed out a laugh, still frozen in the spot where Kim had left her. She reached up, running a hand over the spot where Kim’s lips had just been.

Best. Day. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! It's been foreeeeever. I hope you didn't fall off this story in the meantime. I takes me forever to write because I'm just crazzzzy busy lately. 
> 
> I had the scene where Kim and Trini finally face their feelings written for a while, I was just waiting for the right time to use it. I hope you like it!


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